It's not controversial to say that the United States response to the coronavirus has lacked at almost every government level. A story written by Jen Christensen of CNN Health reports on the news this Friday, of the CDC finally creating a mask mandate for people traveling on public transportation. The CDC attempted to pass this mandate in 2020 but was blocked from doing so and had to settle for a mask recommendation instead.
In Jen Christensen's post she highlights the mandate,
"...The order goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. ET Monday.
The order, signed by Dr. Martin Cetron, director of CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, says people must wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth while on public..."
It's saddening that when we are amidst one of the largest vaccine rollouts in the history of the globe, we are also currently updating mandates virtually essential for combatting Covid on a basic level. While many scientists predicted that the 2nd wave could potentially be much worse than the initial Covid wave, no one could have predicted the increase we would come to see in December and January once people began really ignoring most lockdown and pandemic protocol.
At the height of the pandemic in the summer I worked at an Amazon distribution warehouse in a warehouse worker role, and got to witness the average Americans pushback against Covid enforcements in the workplace. More times than not, people took offense to the fact that they, at their grown ages, were being told what to do, how far to stand apart from each other, etc. This is predominantly due to the individualism that characterizes the United States and its citizens. When something as brutal and serious as a pandemic hits the globe, it requires collective group actions, and the sacrifice of individual moments and routines.
The phrase "Too Little, Too Late" is all that comes to mind with most of the new mandates and requirements that are being set in place currently, but it does bring up an interesting thought about how, and if this experience with this pandemic will be repeated as we face more pandemics inevitably as time goes on. This is where I believe that public intellectual work should be pointed, to breakthrough and discuss things that will tangibly manner in our future. With the major financial institutions' heads above water and another Stimulus package on the way in the coming months, we as a nation are almost acting like we beat Covid, yet we truly don't understand the underlying issues that led to us failing to contain/limit it at its peak.
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