Well it looks like the pandemic is over!

[bif]

I see a ton of posts on Instagram of my daughter's friends at parties and at bars. No masks. I've been out shopping the last couple of days and most of the people are massless. I guess I must have missed the memo! What the hell is going on?!?!?!

[Abolishinist]

1. Geez, I hope your daughter was not one of those at the parties and bars.

I'm in So Cal, and I'd say 90% + are wearing in the grocery/pharmacy/pet stores I infrequent. Now according to the latest we are ALL supposed to do so but still, this is tolerable in the overall scheme. I really don't like putting the burden of enforcement on a store employee, many of whom are young. No reason to force them to confront some MAGA piece of reich-wing garbage over this.

[LoisB]

6. SoCal also. Anywhere I go (grocery store, Target, gas station...) everyone is masked but some

seem to have forgotten about the social distancing when standing in check-out lines. I must say though that the Ralph's I go to enforces only two people allowed in the belt/check-out area at a time. They are still have 6-ft markers on the floor as does Michael's and my gas station.

[Abolishinist]

10. I was just this morning reading an article from a

well-respected source, essentially saying that (a) in the early stages of Covid, the social distancing was thought to help because they believed one's expectorant could contain the virus, (b) the current thought is that it is entirely air born, and also can travel hundreds of feet, which (c) means that essentially the longer one is in a contained environment, the greater the possibility of transmission, regardless of distance.

Who knows. But I still keep a distance while in line when possible.

[LoisB]

15. Airborne makes sense so more reason to stay masked. In light of your post, I think there are

places I can stay out of until this is over. Almost everything can be ordered online and shipped. Thank you for the information.

[Abolishinist]

18. Here's the article. Scary stuff to say the least.

"I am not eating indoors at any place. Absolutely not. No fricking way. If I’m inside a restaurant, and someone is 40 feet away, they’re still putting virus into the air in that space. And if the air is not filtered, you’re going to get it. This “6 feet apart” thing is completely wrong. That guidance was put out ages ago when there was this idea that the virus is transmitted in these big droplets, but the virus is also transmitted in what are called aerosols—little droplets that get suspended in the air. If you don’t have good air circulation and you’re sharing an indoor space with someone who’s infected, you’ll get exposed no matter how far away they are."

https://www.sactownmag.com/uc-davis-microbiome-expert-jonathan-eisen-on-omicron/

[LoisB]

20. Great article. Very informative. Thank you.

[bif]

21. Both my daughters are extremely cautious

They've both been double vaxxed and bolstered. That said, my younger one tested positive a couple days before Christmas.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I went shopping the other day too,

and I can attest that none of the other shoppers were massless--some of them were obese. I guess I must have missed the memo! What the hell is going on?!?!?!

* Pardon me for having some fun with the typo in the OP.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. I've been watching football all week and not a mask to be seen. Yes, the national horror must be

over.

[Skittles]

4. right here on DU

people talking about attending gatherings with unmasked people....I agree, WTF is going on?

[Initech]

5. I think we're at the "I really don't give a fuck if I get it" phase of the pandemic.

[stopdiggin]

14. pretty clearly -(nt)-

[MustLoveBeagles]

19. I think many don't care or

Have given up.

[bhikkhu]

7. That's what it looks like in the stores where I am.

And it's really weird to see record infection rates on the news, and then things seem to be more relaxed than ever. The hardware store where I go dropped their mandate last week. It used to be the employees had to be masked and customers were *supposed* to mask. Today there wasn't a mask to be seen on anyone. At the big grocery store the employees were still masked, but few customers were. When I went to check out the cashier for my line had a bad cough. I got out of that line and went through at the other side of the store. Didn't seem to worry anyone else though.

[FBaggins]

9. The belief that omicron is much less deadly has better pan out

Or this is going to be a very painful winter

[stopdiggin]

13. thing is, even if that IS the case

Do you suddenly feel like opting in for something like a really miserable case of the flu? Probably miss a bunch of work? Pass it on to Great Aunt Edna? Is the damn mask really imposing on your life that much? For groceries?

(and I realize - preaching to the choir ..)

[Tree-Hugger]

11. Many local schools are "mask optional."

Kids are going back to school on Monday and the majority of schools are in person only AND mask optional. Thankfully, my kids have a mask mandate at their school.

I would say that most people are wearing masks in our area stores. There was a period over the Summer where many folks didn't wear them, but there's been an increase since then, especially the last few weeks. We went to a PA zoo a few days ago and about 80% of people wore masks outdoors. To contrast that, we were at a zoo in NJ yesterday and only about 40-50% of people wore masks. I've also been in Philly a lot over the holiday. They have an indoor mask mandate and are heading to vaccine requirements for restaurant dining. I'd say about 90% of people kept their masks on outdoors - this was downtown Philly. The only indoor place where masks were off was the Cathedral. 🙄

[Busterscruggs]

12. I've been

At least double masking whenever I have to leave my apartment and be exposed to the maskless trumpers