The Coronavirus | Contains 4.5% Alcohol

[Dragon Lord]

Also, just found out that Publix is not requiring vaccinated customers and workers to wear masks effective tomorrow. I don't get the point of the distinction though because we can't check customers, so basically everyone will just not wear masks. The only people that can be checked are workers but that comes down to whether the management cares to check it.

That's probably because the CDC came out and said that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks, so now that they opened the door to that, everyone is just going to claim they have been vaccinated to avoid wearing a mask. Granted most of those people weren't wearing masks to begin with, and most corporations weren't enforcing mask rules anyways because telling customers who weren't wearing masks to leave is lost sales. I know all of the Walmarts and such around here had "Mask is required" on their doors, but lots of customers inside not wearing them, and not a single employee going up to anyone of them and asking them to wear a mask/telling them to leave if they wouldn't.

Overall doesn't bother me much. I'm the only person at work who wears a mask any more, and a large majority of our customers don't.

[ShiraNoMai]

I have to say, despite the mandate being lifted, the amount of people I still see wearing masks is impressive. It's a minority at this point, like maybe 1/3 of the population, but that's still more than I ever expected.

I've been wearing mine in most businesses, and if places seem crowded, but for the most part I've slowly been letting go of it. It's a strange feeling to be exposed in public like that again, not necessarily for fear or anything, just cuz it feels.. immoral or something of that ilk.

[Moonface]

A lot of people seem to be still wearing masks from lack of knowledge they can do otherwise, at least in my experience at my job. The number of customers who ask if they're allowed to remove their mask is more than I expected, and then there are others who do know but choose to keep them on so as to not catch it and pass it to someone they know who hasn't got a vaccine yet or could potentially react badly to getting Covid.

Of course it likely depends on where you are for how people are treating masks now that mandates are being lifted. I expect somewhere like a Walmart wouldn't have a mask in sight.

[ShiraNoMai]

Apparently this Delta variant is becoming the new dominant strain worldwide, and the WHO actually put out a new recommendation stating to wear masks for those unvaccinated to help minimize and drop the spread of that one. It sucks living in a country that has FULL access to the vaccines and we still have people that refuse to get it at all, and people that are immunocompromised that aren't able to get the vaccine have to be subjected to this torment for longer because not enough people are vaccinated yet and those who are, it's really hard to tell when you aren't wearing a mask because anti-vaxxers are of course going to not want to wear one when they've been not wanting to since day one.

[Moonface]

No one is going to listen to the WHO after they stated masks could be removed. That statement put the nail in the coffin for masks going back on anyone except the most concientous of people unless the new variant can do something that makes people panic like putting kids in the hospital like polio did.

It sucks that these variants may have been avoidable if countries had taken proper steps at the start of the pandemic. I feel like Australia and New Zealand were the only ones who responded appropriately, considering they were safe to open things up again way before anywhere else, and that was before even vaccines were going out.

[ShiraNoMai]

It was Australia and New Zealand leading that front, but America really sealed the deal when they refused to give out any of the millions of vaccines they produced to countries also in desperate need of them to help very clearly ungrateful selves. Now we have variants running amok and it's really stupid.

I was reading an article about how this variant came about because of the way it exploits these newly laxed policies (masklessness, fully operational businesses, etc) and the low vaccine rates. It's a good thing this isn't any more deadly than the OG COVID-19 is, but it is insanely more contagious (meaning, more likely to spread to those vulnerable and increasing death numbers that way).

[Mr EliteL]

July 19th is the date for when masks don't have to be worn for UK now. So don't know what's going to happen if the Delta variant becomes a serious problem here like the others. Well people's reaction that is, if yet another lockdown happens, the rule for masks coming back as mandatory. I for one will still wear a mask for the time being when the 19th comes at work or highly congested places at least until my second vaccine anyway, after that when I don't feel safe I will.

[Kyng]

July 19th is the date for when masks don't have to be worn for UK now. So don't know what's going to happen if the Delta variant becomes a serious problem here like the others. Well people's reaction that is, if yet another lockdown happens, the rule for masks coming back as mandatory. I for one will still wear a mask for the time being when the 19th comes at work or highly congested places at least until my second vaccine anyway, after that when I don't feel safe I will.

Personally, I don't expect there to be another lockdown any time soon. What's happening right now is, cases have been rising sharply - but hospitalisations and deaths have remained at a relatively low level. Part of that, of course, is because hospitalisations and deaths are lagging indicators - but I think it's mostly because the virus is circulating among low-risk people at this point (the high-risk people having been fully vaccinated by now). 

Still, I am rather hoping cases don't explode after the 19th!!!

[Moonface]

I feel like cases have died down compared to before vaccines, but maybe it just isn't making the news very much anymore. I tend to only see stories of unvaccinated people with Covid now though and either dying because they doubled down on their dislike of a vaccine, or did the old song and dance of "I made a mistake and wish I took it" that seems to be happening gradually more.

[Monocle]

shit, my wife's cousin got the delta variant even though she's vaccinated soooo it's gonna be fun for a while still. so excited.

I'm glad I got my shots regardless but I'm still wearing masks at work because my wife is asthmatic and I don't want to risk her. But there really isn't any news. only thing I hear is cases going up in low vaccinated areas

[Moonface]

How's she handling that variant @Monocle? Is it giving her symptoms worse than if it was the regular strain? I'm hoping she's doing okay and that she's not having to deal with much worse effects than if she had caught the regular strain.

[Monocle]

honestly I have no idea. She's already better. We found out after but I guess I found ask and find out. I'm sure it was hell regardless

[Moonface]

Oh, well good to hear she's better. I thought she'd only just caught it.

Not really a Covid thing but also is because Covid did impact it, but I didn't realize the 2020 Olympics are starting in two days. I'm not really sure how to feel about it considering athletes are already testing positive because things like the opening ceremony are going to probably make cases spike, especially if there's a crowd, although I have no idea if there will be since Japan seems heavily against the whole thing.

[Monocle]

I think they're thinking about money. too much money has been spent to not go now. do I agree? hell no. well that stop then? hell no.

[Moonface]

I wonder if it was the IOC who wanted it happening so soon, since they tend to make a lot of demands of a host city to the benefit of themselves and didn't want to keep waiting, and a host city can't back out against the IOC so if that party did want it now, there's not really anything that can be done.

I heard that the opening ceremony was pre-recorded though and that the parade of countries had only a small selection of people from each country to keep the number of people down being in close proximity. I just hope if there are crowds that there's a vaccine requirement, only because it would be really shit for any more athletes to get ill and have their games ruined. They already had to wait as it is and really don't need more problems on their plate that can be avoided.