Mask Mandates and Sub Variants
The CDC and a Federal Judge may have provided the virus with a win.
With over thirty states seeing a rise in COVID sub-variant case numbers, the CDC and a federal judge in Florida have decided that the mask mandate on public transportation should end.
This means that anyone riding on an airplane, train, or bus is no longer required to wear a mask. Many people rejoiced over this recent news, while many others (like myself) are pulling their masks tighter around their faces.
The sub-variant is highly infectious and many of the cases are among those who are vaccinated and received booster shots. I had a friend who was fully vaccinated and boosted to get very sick just a couple of weeks ago. While she didn’t need to be hospitalized, she was severely ill for nearly a week.
The White House has been ground zero for infections. Everyone from aides to senators has been infected by the virus. Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and former President Barack Obama are a few notables politicians to become infected by the variant. So far, President Biden has evaded infection.
That is why lifting the mask mandate on public transportation is a bad idea. There are still millions of people who aren’t even vaccinated. They’ve been playing Russian roulette with the virus for nearly three years. There are millions who are partially vaccinated or vaccinated but haven’t received a booster shot. That’s just too many people mixing and mingling around each other my taste.
I think it’s too soon to lift mask mandates on public transportation. It endangers many people. Of course, people still have the right to wear a mask, but how long before that right is taken away? It’s possible that public pressure could lead to the outlawing of masks. I hope it doesn’t get to that point, but this country seems to be on a path towards a dictatorship, so anything is possible.
Biden needs to step in and pump the brakes. If there is a massive outbreak over the next few months, it could have an effect on the upcoming mid-term elections. If too many people are too sick to go to the polls, that may give the Republicans an advantage. Of course, this could also work in the Democrat's favor as many Republicans have been protesting masks for the past three years.
The country is still in the grips of a pandemic. The virus isn’t going anywhere. New variants are born every few months. We need to pay attention to what is happening around us. Before it’s too late and we’re in lockdown again.
