Without testing, masks or isolation, Covid normalization is coming

Thu, September 5, 2024

Por: Emily Baumgaertner/The New York Times

Jason Moyer was days away from a family trip by road to visit his parents when his 10-year-old son woke up with fever and cough

¿Covid? The perspective threatened with upsetting the family’s plans.

“Six months ago, we would have done the Covid test“They didn’t,” said Moyer, 41, of Ohio. This time, they didn’t.

Instead, they found that lchild’s cough was improving and that his fever had disappeared—and they left for New Jersey.

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In the fifth Covid summer, the cases are increasing. In USA, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported “high” or “very high” levels of virus in the wastewater of almost all States. The rate of hospitalizations is nearly double what it was at this time last summer, and deaths, despite being down nearly 75 percent from the worst of the pandemic —are twice as many as they were this spring. But for many, Covid has become so normalized that they no longer see it as a reason to disrupt social, work routines or travel. Sales of test kits have plummeted. Isolation after an exposure is becoming increasingly rare. face mask —once an omnipresent symbol of an increase in Covid— are in short supply, even in crowded airports, train stations and subways.

“I don’t even know what the rules are anymore and Recommendations“said Andrew Hoffman, 68, of Mission Viejo, California, who suffered respiratory symptoms a few weeks ago after his wife tested positive for Covid. He didn’t go to the synagogue, but he did go to the supermarket.

“Virus always present”

Los epidemiologists They said they do not support a lackadaisical approach, particularly for those who spend time with older people and those who are immunocompromised. They still recommend staying home for a couple of days after a exhibition and receive the rvaccine efforts newly authorized. But they said that while cases of Covid are high, less hospitalizations y deaths during peaks are signs of growing immunity — evidence that a combination of mild infections and boosters of vaccines are ushering in a new era. They have long predicted that Covid over time it would become endemic.

“If you ask six epidemiologists what does it mean ‘endemic‘ you’ll probably get about 12 answers,” said Bill Hanage, associate director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “But it definitely has a kind of social definition—a virus always present”.

For vulnerable groups, the virus will always present a higher risk of severe infection y death. He Long Covid, a multifaceted syndrome, has affected at least 400 million people worldwide, researchers recently estimated, and most who have had it have said they still does not recover.

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But the CDC decided this year to withdraw its guidelines 5 days of isolation by Covid and instead include Covid in their guidelines for other irespiratory infections, telling people with symptoms to stay at home 24 hours after the illness disappears. fever.

The absence of strict guidelines has left it up to people to manage their own risks.

Diane Deacon, 71, of Saginaw, Michigan, said she gave positive for Covid three days after a trip to Portugal with his adult daughters. isolated for five days before flying home with face mask.

“Several people asked me, ‘Why did you get tested? You could have just continued with your vacation’“, said.

For Deacon, it was about anticipating people vulnerable on their flight home.

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In a Gallup poll this spring, about 59 percent of respondents said they believed the pandemic there was “finished” in the US, and the proportion of people who said they were worried about contract Covid has been declining for two years. That could be the result of personal experience: about 70 percent of people said they had already experienced a Covid infection.