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canyonwalkerIt's Tier Tuesday so time for a weekly check of Coronavirus statistics. The main metric, average daily cases per 100,000 population, has continued to decline. A week ago it was 81,823. Today it stands at 58,986. This is not only a 28% decline in one week but a 93% decline from the peak of 805,062 on January 15. Figures are per New York Times Coronavirus in the U.S. (retrieved 1 Mar 2022).
Along with the dropping case rates, mask requirements are dropping. The governor's office allowed the statewide mandate to lapse two weeks ago. Two counties, Santa Clara (where I live) and Los Angeles, kept indoor mask policies in place. But one week ago Santa Clara announced it would drop its policy if data supported such a change. The latest data have, so mask laws are largely lifted here, effective Wednesday. Example news coverage: KRON 4 news article, 1 Mar 2022; San Jose Spotlight article, 1 Mar 2022.
Previously I described the new policy as still requiring unvaccinated people to wear masks in indoors public settings. That is inaccurate. The new policy makes masks voluntary— though recommended— for all.
Masks remain required for all in certain settings. Masks must be worn in schools and child care facilities per a state requirement in effect through March 11. The governor has indicated he expects to lift that restriction starting on March 12. A separate rule mandating masks on public transit and in homeless shelters, health care and long-term care facilities, and correctional institutions remains in effect with no sunset date proposed yet.
The last time California lifted its mask mandates, 15 June 2021, the national average case rate was 12,620. Today my county decided to lift mask requirements with nearly 5x that rate... and most of the rest of the state and most of the rest of the country lifted theirs long before that. Other key metrics— test positivity, hospitalization, and deaths— remain substantially higher, too.
This all adds up to a conclusion that this lifting of the mask mandate is unscientific, that it's a premature, rushed change because the political will to tolerate restrictions in the name of public health no longer exists. We're effectively a nation of children who vote now.
Along with the dropping case rates, mask requirements are dropping. The governor's office allowed the statewide mandate to lapse two weeks ago. Two counties, Santa Clara (where I live) and Los Angeles, kept indoor mask policies in place. But one week ago Santa Clara announced it would drop its policy if data supported such a change. The latest data have, so mask laws are largely lifted here, effective Wednesday. Example news coverage: KRON 4 news article, 1 Mar 2022; San Jose Spotlight article, 1 Mar 2022.
Previously I described the new policy as still requiring unvaccinated people to wear masks in indoors public settings. That is inaccurate. The new policy makes masks voluntary— though recommended— for all.
Masks remain required for all in certain settings. Masks must be worn in schools and child care facilities per a state requirement in effect through March 11. The governor has indicated he expects to lift that restriction starting on March 12. A separate rule mandating masks on public transit and in homeless shelters, health care and long-term care facilities, and correctional institutions remains in effect with no sunset date proposed yet.
Good News/Bad News
In the last several of my Tier Tuesday updates I've warned that the news is good news/bad news. That remains true this week. While Tuesday's 7-day average case rate is down sharply from the height of the Omicron surge, it is still higher now than before the Delta and Omicron waves.The last time California lifted its mask mandates, 15 June 2021, the national average case rate was 12,620. Today my county decided to lift mask requirements with nearly 5x that rate... and most of the rest of the state and most of the rest of the country lifted theirs long before that. Other key metrics— test positivity, hospitalization, and deaths— remain substantially higher, too.
This all adds up to a conclusion that this lifting of the mask mandate is unscientific, that it's a premature, rushed change because the political will to tolerate restrictions in the name of public health no longer exists. We're effectively a nation of children who vote now.
