Should the White House start the process of walking the party back from masking/social distancing

[cinematicdiversions]

Before the midterms.

Vaccines and boosters are a slam dunk and have the science to back them up.

Perhaps a strategy separating the push for vaccines from the other strategies would be beneficial social policy. We are seeing other states and countries making this transition. It might be prudent for the white house to get in the lead regarding the reduction of mask and social distancing mandates.

Eliminating the mask mandate on airlines before the summer travel season would be a good start.

[Scrivener7]

1. Sure. A plague is no big deal. Let the people who do their own research call the shots.

[FreepFryer]

2. Has mutation rate dropped? Infections increase the rate of mutation.

It’s my understanding that preventing the transmission of the virus is still a priority.

[Bluethroughu]

5. +1

[Sherman A1]

3. No

Follow the science.

[Autumn]

4. Why? Is the pandemic over? Did Covid and it variations suddenly stop being contagious?

[cinematicdiversions]

7. Because I would like to have a democratic congress next year.

And this is a issue that the public has moved on from.

It is simple going to loose us the election if we continue down this path 100%

Nothing is stopping individuals from wearing masks

And of course we still promote vaccinations and booster.

[Autumn]

13. People should die so we can have a democratic congress? It might be better if

Democrats do things to get elected. Like save people from dying during a pandemic.

[cinematicdiversions]

17. We are going to cancel mask mandates at some point in the near future.

Most states that have them are eyeing cancelling them soon.

Many countries as well.

I am suggesting doing so with a positive political outcome. Let's not have Infrastructure bill 2

[Scrivener7]

15. Jesus. SMDH.

"People have moved on."

Covid hasn't.

[brooklynite]

21. This is also an issue that Democratic Governors and Mayors have moved on from.

[VarryOn]

24. You're right...most have moved on.

At this point, the end is a political decision. Biden should declare it so.

[HUAJIAO]

6. Depends only on the science-- what happens in the next months with covid.

Masks are a big part of the deterrent to the spread.

[spanone]

8. When the science tells us it's alright. Not for political reasons.

[happy feet]

9. Politics over science

got us into this mess. The majority of folks value science and doing their part for the whole of society. Anti-vaxxers and maskers won't give Dems credit even if they acede to their unrealistic demands. Will move on to something else. I really don't get yielding to the minority anti-science.

[Rebl2]

26. Exactly!

[lagomorph777]

10. I guess we want to win over the asshole anti-science vote?

Not gonna happen. Let them kill themselves off; we have to survive to pick up the pieces, and dropping critical safety strategies is the opposite of the best way to go.

[cinematicdiversions]

14. We are obviously going to do this at some point why not before the election

See passing infrastructure bill.

You know what he is at ii maybe he resdind the silly take you shows off at security rule. Make it a twofer.

[lagomorph777]

18. Can't read your post - did you type in your sleep?

What you're suggesting is that we put politics ahead of survival.

That's not how Democrats roll. I'm guessing you're not very familiar with Democratic values.

[cinematicdiversions]

22. Are the mask mandates really saving lives at this point or is it just vaccinations?

The death rate in areas with strict mandates and areas without do not show a strong correlation

The death rates in areas with high rates of vaccination do.

In reality, relaxing the mandates does not go against the science.

And again, they are going away at some point. Probably in the next twelve months. Why not do it before the election than right after?

[LizBeth]

30. My medical community upped the mask wearing to N95s so they must consider they

are effected. I see no data where it shows mask do nothing and only preventative is vaccines. My area did well against Omicron. They do have higher vacc than average but we have not walked away from masks since the start. Is it only the vacc that caused us to not have the issues as the rest of the country, or the combination.

I will listen to the medical community on this one. Masks are so not a deal.

[Tomconroy]

31. That's the point. Vaccines work. The rest of the stuff in real

life may do a little. But not much.

[Rebl2]

34. You know

Fauci said at thanksgiving and Christmas we could get together with family and close friends as long as all were vaccinated. How did THAT work out? Hospitals ICU full, patients waiting in ambulances in hospital parking lots, hospitals doctors and nurses at their breaking point, patients in hallways. NO it is NOT time to get rid of mask mandates. There are many like me who are vulnerable because of immune system problems. I will continue to wear a mask when I go out because of this even if they drop mandates. We have no mandate where I am and hospitals are full.

[Tomconroy]

35. Hospitals filled up everywhere in January, mandate or not.

[NurseJackie]

11. Oh brother!

[cate94]

12. No

Just no.

[Abnredleg]

16. I think the process is already beginning

New Jersey just announced a timeline to eliminate school mask mandates and I suspect other Blue states will follow. There is just too much societal pressure to “move on” and people will begin ignoring mandates more so then they do already. It’ll take a new variant that is much more dangerous to change this state of affairs.

As for me, my wife and I are boosted, wear KN95 masks and avoid indoor spaces, and we’ll continue to do so for the next couple of months at a minimum.

[Dorian Gray]

68. It is already beginning

and like it or not, we need to be prepared to deal with it.

Know sources for good masks if you'd like to wear a mask that personally protects the wearer. I love BOTN and Dr. Peri masks. Both are super comfortable. I'll keep wearing, especially as I live in NYC, and it's probably going to be pretty popular on public transportation for awhile.

Get vaccinated and boosted if you haven't already. Figure out the places of business that care about the community. Spend money there.

The NJ governor is leaving it to local municipalities. NY, CT, MA will soon follow, I bet.

Be ready for the off ramps and be ready to protect yourself. Masking can be effective if you wear a great mask.

[themaguffin]

89. Yeah, my behavior is still very reserved on this, but the even blue states are pivoting.

[iemanja]

19. No, we should not promote death

Why do you want to eliminate mask mandates? How many more deaths to you want to see?

[lagomorph777]

20. Curious why the OP has not been alerted and removed.

It's promoting a right-wing talking point.

[Abnredleg]

25. Not really

A lot of Democrats are saying the same thing, the Governor of New Jersey being one.

[Tomconroy]

32. More than just right wingers are asking these questions.

[beaglelover]

67. As they should. I wish MORE democrats would start asking these questions.

It's time for this nonsense to end. We have a shot that prevents you from dying. If you want to continue to wear a mask, please feel free to do so. But the majority of us are over these mandates at this point.

[Tomconroy]

81. We've done enough damage to children.

[Dorian Gray]

73. Yes

absolutely.

[Stinky The Clown]

37. Are prevented from doing so?

And saying go could be taken as a personal attack.

For the record, I am diametrically opposite the OP.

[ShazzieB]

45. I alerted.

I'd be surprised if I'm the only one.

[lagomorph777]

46. You are not the only one.

[Dorian Gray]

74. Did the thread get closed?

[Dorian Gray]

72. I would like to challenge that

I know mask mandates are popular on this board. Lord knows, I live in Park Slope Brooklyn, and they're popular here too. I will continue to wear masks even after the mandate is ended.

But I have family and friends who live in various states across the country. The reality is that nobody masks like we do here in BK. They don't want mandates. And they're pretty liberal people. They truly believe that the school mandates are an undue burden on kids when adults can pretty much go live their lives.

[beaglelover]

77. Here in L.A. they make school kids wear masks OUTSIDE during recess, etc.

It's ridiculous. The L.A. county director of health is one of the most unhealthy looking people I've ever seen and she certainly does not follow the science.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. The WH putting all their chips on the vaccine is what got us to almost a million deaths.

So in a way it's like we're already there.

[dwayneb]

27. No - not until the death rate and case rate are down to

When you have a look at the death rate especially, the US as a whole is still at 3200 deaths a day. At one time last summer it was down to about 1/10 of that, 300ish deaths per day.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendscases

So until the Covid death rate gets to that level or lower, masking and social distancing need to be strongly promoted.

The other countries you mention may be further past the Omicron peak.

[Effete Snob]

28. Public health recommendations are not a "party" policy or political position /nt

[llashram]

33. I say yes

trumpers are not going to wear one anyway. Of course, the more safety-conscious should be advised to continue safety protocols until this plague is brought under control. Let the trumpers choose.

[Wounded Bear]

36. The current WH policy is to follow the CDC guidelines. I say continue with that...

[Swede]

38. Deaths are spiking around the world.

Wait a couple weeks to see what's up.

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=mp7seqjtlSpHxVEtuKChMA

[leftstreet]

39. You think people associate masking with the Democrats?

How very bizarre

[bigtree]

40. masking and distancing aren't political acts

...playing politics with personal protections against covid costs lives.

[PSPS]

41. Aw, Jeez.

"The White House" isn't in control. Take your "concern" to the virus. Why are you promoting the right-wing stance of politicizing the response to a pandemic?

[area51]

51. +1 n/t

[Arazi]

42. You're going to get blasted but this is a necessary conversation

I see less and less compliance every day.

Americans have now demonstrated they do not care how many of their fellow citizens die. They simply don’t care. These catastrophic death and infection numbers simply aren’t moving the “compassion” needle anymore (if they ever did).

You’re right that more and more states - including blue states - are just going to drop any mitigation measures. Should Biden passively watch it or be involved in that conversation?

For myself, I’ll vax, social distance, minimize indoor activities, liberally use hand sanitizer and wash up etc etc.

That may be the next “winning” message. That we’re done trying to save you and your loved ones. You know what to do to keep safe. Go ahead and die.

There must be some kind of healthcare caveat that goes with that however. An extra fee like smokers used to get? Hospitals can refuse treatment for anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers? Our healthcare system won’t endure these surges much longer

[themaguffin]

88. The pivot to this is starting to happen on the state level. I agree, an outline with caveats may be

what needs to happen. I don't think that he needs to rush out, but hopefully if trends improve, this can happen.

[peggysue2]

43. By the midterms we should be out of the woods with Covid

Right now, the stats are coming down for new cases but we're still recording 65,000 cases per day. During the last lull between surges, I felt relatively safe when the numbers fell below 20,000.

We're certainly not there yet. However if the trend continues and we don't get hit by another variant and/or new virus, then by spring or early summer we should be good.

Until then, we need to stay cautious and follow protocols. This surge has been described as a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The numbers show that to be the case.

Right now? We just need to hold on and go with the science.

[lagomorph777]

47. Maybe, if keep our masks on.

If we follow the OP's advice, we'll be in another massive wave in November. And Democrats would correctly be blamed for it.

[peggysue2]

52. No doubt.

If the virus were to haunt/hunt us into the fall, Biden and the Democratic Party would be blamed.

Hopefully, that won't happen on either score.

The unknowables are as frightening as the damn virus!

Still, I'm going with the positives right now knowing things can change in a moment.

What else can we do? Gotta ride the waves.

[Ace Rothstein]

54. Mask compliance/non-compliance isn't what caused our waves.

[lagomorph777]

61. Saying that does not make it so.

Sorry.

[Ace Rothstein]

62. You could look at the state data and see the recent covid wave happened everywhere.

Whether the state had a mask mandate or not. Illinois has a mask mandate and peaked at a 7 day average of 33k cases. Next door, Indiana peaked at 14k. Illinois has slightly less than double the population of Indiana.

[Zeitghost]

92. There are not enough people left

For another massive wave, at least where deaths are concerned. By now just about everyone has gotten COVID, been fully vaccinated and in many cases both. After the omicron wave runs its course, pretty much anyone who was going to catch a fatal case will have.

[struggle4progress]

50. We're still losing about 2500 daily

[peggysue2]

55. And that is no small number

Regardless of what the Fox team says.

Because for the most part these are unnecessary deaths caused by ignorance and gross misinformation.

This is the House That Republicans Built for their own political advantage.

Sickening!

[doc03]

44. Yes we should move on. If people don't want to get a

shot or wear a mask that's fine with me. If I fly on a plane I may wear a mask other than that no. This has gone on far to long. I don't see one person out of 20 wearing a mask.

[ChicagoRonin]

48. I'd say, go visit a hospital with a Covid ward and talk to the staff

. . . then come back here and let us know what your opinion is.

[struggle4progress]

49. 900 000 gone

[Wingus Dingus]

53. Way before the midterms, unless a new and worse variant takes over or

omicron somehow overwhelms the system more than it's doing now. People will be done with this by the end of spring, whether we're actually done with it or not case-wise. Edit to add: Masking and distancing shouldn't be Democratic policy, it should be a state and local health policy. Don't make it political.

[bigtree]

56. when was it ever 'Democratic' policy?

...setting public policy based on health needs and concerns isn't political.

Deciding to end those protections because of an upcoming election is dangerously political.

[Wingus Dingus]

57. That's why I don't think it should be connected to midterms, why

make it appear political? The fact is, most people are going to be done with this on a psychological and practical level, because cases appear to have peaked in most states, the virus is running out of "fresh meat" to infect, vaccinated people are faring pretty well--and unless a new variant grips the country, I don't see a case for continuing to insist on masking/distancing once the hospitalizations/deaths begin to really decrease. I expect that will be by May-June. If not, then we'll all still be masking up. It really depends on how the health care systems are coping.

We have to be practical and prepare to return to normal. We should be looking for an opportune time to do that--can't be in crisis mode forever. As far as one's personal comfort level, nothing is stopping anyone from wearing a mask.

[dem4decades]

58. They will, unless a new and deadly variant pops up. Watch Gov Lamont today and see which way the

wind is blowing

[EleanorR]

59. If the Federal vaccine mandate were still in place maybe, but thanks to the supremes it is not

So fewer will be vaccinated and we will continue to need other safeguards as we grapple with this virus.

[liberal_mama]

60. The New York Times reports almost 300,000 new cases and 2500+ deaths from yesterday

Almost all the democrats I know in my local groups support vaccinations + masking.

On Twitter, many democrats are enraged when their governors remove Covid mitigations.

Surveys show that most democrats approve of masking.

In this forum, whenever this comes up, there are a handful of people that are anti-mask, but most of the comments are pro-mitigation.

The republicans aren't going to vote for a democrat because they removed a mask mandate, but it could anger and make some democrats apathetic.

I think it would be a mistake to do it when cases are so high. This pandemic as been politicized enough.

[AntivaxHunters]

63. Absolutely not.

This will lead to more deaths.

[Ace Rothstein]

64. Based on the responses to this thread, absolutely.

[beaglelover]

65. Yes. We have a shot that prevents you from dying of COVID.

If you don't want the shot, fine, take your chances.

Time to reopen fully with no masks, social distancing, vaccine passports, etc. Follow the lead of the UK and other European nations.

Enough is enough.

[Spider Jerusalem]

71. The vaccine doesn't 100% prevent you from getting covid

and breakthrough infections can lead to long covid: https://news.yahoo.com/breakthrough-infections-lead-long-covid-182622434.html

I'm amazed at how idiotic some of the discourse on this around here is, frankly.

[beaglelover]

76. I never said the vaccine prevents you from getting COVID.

It prevents you from dying of COVID for 99.9999999% of vaccinated people.

Long COVID will always be a thing as COVID will always be with us just like the flu.

No one will be prevented from masking, social distancing, etc. if that's what they need to do to feel safe.

[Spider Jerusalem]

79. The flu usually doesn't leave you with serious lifelong after-effects

again: your position is fantastically stupid.

[beaglelover]

83. Neither does COVID for the majority of people who get it.

[Spider Jerusalem]

91. 20% have symptoms that last longer than 4 weeks

and 25% of breakthrough cases. Sorry, but Russian roulette has better odds

[liberal_mama]

78. My vaccinated husband got infected with Covid a month ago. He's still suffering the after effects

In our local hospitals, half of the people in the ICU and on ventilators are fully vaccinated.

People know that being vaccinated doesn't guarantee you won't get Covid or even have a more mild case anymore.

The vaccines help reduce the odds and I've had my vaccines, but I wouldn't feel safe going into an indoor area without a good mask on.

I was so happy after my husband and I got vaccinated, thinking that there was almost no chance of getting or spreading Covid, especially after just losing a family member to a horrific Covid battle in February 2021. But now I know it's still risky.

[hamsterjill]

66. That just plays into the QAnon's baloney

They will be proclaiming that Democrats backed off on the vaccines and masking because they realize that people know they aren’t working.

As Democrats, and particularly on DU, I’m constantly reminded that we need to be above board and proper. The science confirms that vaccines and masks work and Dems should never back away from that fact.

[Spider Jerusalem]

69. The virus hasn't gone away; masks are effective in preventing transmission.

A stupid idea being politically expedient doesn't make it not stupid.

[Mr.Bill]

70. Make the removal of masking and social distancing mandates

contingent on the vaccination rate. Make the non vaxers the reason we are having to wear masks.

[Hortensis]

75. I agree with anyone who said this is a science-based decision.

As far as I'm concerned, our party never had a political position. That was all Republican.

[Vinca]

82. They should follow the science and the numbers. We can all say "Okay, I'm done with Covid," but

Covid will let us know when it's done with us. I doubt an across-the-board ruling is the way to go because the northeast might have a low case count while the deep south has a high case count. Politics should play no part in eradicating Covid from our lives.

[Deminpenn]

84. Yes

Most businesses and people are moving on, accepting covid is now pretty much endemic. In this case, the WH is lagging behind where Americans are.

Also, heard from, iirc, the former head of the CDC on CNN or MSNBC say that over 90% of adults have been vaccinated (a lesser percent with booster) and the balance have some level of immunity from having had and survived covid. Of course we also know that the main reason behind masking and distancing is not so much for public health as it is to keep the US' broken health care system from being overwhelmed.

[kentuck]

85. Is it Party "policy" or the policy of the CDC and scientists?

Is it really their "policy"?

Should they continue to follow the advice of the experts?

[Ace Rothstein]

87. They should get vaccinated.

The vaccine is very effective at preventing hospitalization and death.

[beaglelover]

90. Correct answer!