UM to drop mask/test/vax mandate for most indoor spaces (link)
Following MSU's lead.....
On the one hand I get dropping the mandate for masks because we are in a downswing and a decent chunk of people are at least partially vaccinated, and long-term mask usage isn't tenable socially. On the other hand, 1800 still died yesterday from COVID so it's not like it's "gone" by any means.
I do think COVID is going to be a seasonal scourge and so it'll be interesting to see what happens in the fall when cases start rising - will schools and places of business re-introduce the mandate?
March 10th, 2022 at 10:14 AM ^
It’s likely that it’ll never go away. I think we are largely at equilibrium (or close to it) where those who are still concerned about COVID can peacefully live among those who are “done with it”
March 10th, 2022 at 10:33 AM ^
the reality is that this is a pandemic of choice at this point in the US. Most recent weeks deaths per 100,000 for unvaxxed is 12 vs .45 for vaxxed and boosted. That’s a 30x improvement. These numbers will continue to go up with loosening of restrictions, but the impact on the boosted community will hopefully stay flatter.
March 10th, 2022 at 10:54 AM ^
Given all the facts, it is still a shame that people, who can get medically get vaxxed, refuse to get vaxxed and increase their chance of death by 30x.
March 10th, 2022 at 11:41 AM ^
Absolutely. It's why I do get the exhaustion with these temporary mandates like mask usage - at this point the vast majority of people who are getting gravely sick are doing so by choice and even my strategic reserves of fucks to give has run dry for them.
March 10th, 2022 at 10:43 AM ^
Only once the propaganda machine moves off of the latest fear porn to instill into people, then the mandates will be reintroduced.
Also 1800 people did not die from* COVID. Statistical data shows majority of people are dying with COVID. Most involving the elderly, obese, smokers/alcoholics. Maybe a billion-dollar marketing campaign to exercise, get outside and eat healthier foods as a country might suffice?
March 10th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
When my dad killed himself, he also had terminal bone cancer. It was very comforting to know that he merely died with a gunshot wound and not from* one.
March 10th, 2022 at 11:39 AM ^
I'm not going to get too deep into yet another one of these debates wherein "the fall didn't kill him it was only when he hit the ground" becomes some irrelevant distinction to further discredit this public health crisis, but of the ~1M people who have died in the proximity of COVID-19 in this country approximately 241k are under 64 years of age. So not what I'd consider elderly. Feel free to dig into their health backgrounds if you want but even unhealthy 55-year-olds weren't falling like this before COVID.
March 10th, 2022 at 12:59 PM ^
2 things.
first, the irony of someone claiming it’s a propaganda machine vs reality is thick. It appears you are falling for the propaganda of a segment of the media and internet message boards.
second, you don’t deserve your username. You shame it with your intentional stupidity.
That's stupid. Our (average Joes) major source of information is the media. I try to use primary sources, but even some of those make me roll my eyes at the obvious agenda driven science.
If you think the media is even slightly truthful after the last 5-forever years, you have your head in the sand.
If you KNOW the MSM isn't truthful, it becomes pretty easy to accept something else as the source of truth, even if it's stupid. And God knows there is a lot of stupid on both sides people have bought into.
The Government and it's mouthpieces in the media have no one to blame but themselves for our distrust.
The Government and it's mouthpieces in the media have no one to blame but themselves for our distrust.
Particularly one side of the government and media.
March 10th, 2022 at 10:11 AM ^
Why wait until Monday?
They have to prove to you they control when things go away, nothing else.
March 10th, 2022 at 10:14 AM ^
Nice.
*Edit: Damn, I thought this was going to apply to Saturday's ND Hockey game.
March 10th, 2022 at 10:48 AM ^
I think this is probably ok?
I'm slightly hopeful this is a harbinger of better things to come, and am in fact planning to take 1-2 trips this summer what with COVID rates declining. That said, if we get divebombed with another variant this winter we may well have to be prepared to reinforce mask and vax requirements to ride it out, because we've seen firsthand - multiple times - how fast this thing spreads.
Like everyone else here I'm basically done with the pandemic and have been for some time - the problem is that it's the pandemic that decides whether it's done with us.
The good news is that there's only 24 letters in the Greek alphabet and we're past omnicron, which is the 14th letter - so once we get to omega than we will be done, right?
March 10th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
Amusing. It's almost as if people could have been accountable for their own health this entire time by staying home when they get the flu, getting a flu "vax" and wearing a mask in public areas - or not.
Welp thank goodness for the state Politbüro to give the greenlight at this intersection, because how else we we know what to do, since no one has common sense anymore, and we could never figure out the right of way on our own.
Also. the state of Michigan should be commended for its ability to ignore with a straight face the open, bald-faced hyprocrisy on display by state, municipal and government officials, the media, athletes, cheerleaders, celebrities and fans which was all televised, streamed and broadcast worldwide in Inglewood on 13 February. "Rules for thee, but not for me."
March 10th, 2022 at 11:08 AM ^
It’s SCIENCE! You would think a top 25 research university would have done their own research to determine that masks don’t stop viruses and have never required them, but they were too busy cashing checks from the the fed.
March 10th, 2022 at 11:18 AM ^
Yeah, I agree! Like, literally everytime in my life I have gone to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned and had them within a foot of my open mouth while working, none of them ever once wore a mask because masks don't do anything to prevent transmission of a virus !
March 10th, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
It is this kind of ignorance that I do not know what to do with.
March 10th, 2022 at 12:42 PM ^
The infection rates of virtually all viral and bacterial sicknesses transmitted by respiratory droplets had dropped to levels never before seen in human history right when we all started wearing masks.
But tell me again how they don't work ....
I wonder if people like you actually believe what you say and type or is it just for effect and to make some political point? If it is the former, well I pity you and if it is the latter, well I probably do not like you, not that you care.
March 10th, 2022 at 11:15 AM ^
Except for the fact that overwhelmed hospitals because of people who choose not to get vaxxed or wear masks affect us all. If people who chose not to get vaxxed were the only ones being put at risk you would be somewhat more correct. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. The decision to not get vaxxed can (and has had) much larger community wide impacts.
March 10th, 2022 at 11:40 AM ^
If only getting "vaxxed" precluded humans like you and I from contracting, carrying and transmitting this influenza virus to others at home and in public, whether those other people were "vaxxed" or not. And multiple times over again.
Alas, that is not the case. And it never was, despite all that the media and the "experts" claimed, insisted, and then had the temerity to scold the populace for losing faith in their guidance after being repeatedly wrong, but self-declared experts all over again.
I agree with one of the other commenters here. If you have ever had faith in humanity before, then after observing the sequence of events over the last 24 months in the US, you can never un-see how woefully that faith was misplaced.
The word faith is appropriate, because it's a religion. How can you possibly have an honest discussion and reach productive conclusion when the issues are politicized and linked to emotional investments and egos? Exactly. It's a waste.
The average guy and gal out there just wants to not be habitually lied to. But that's a bridge too far, apparently.
March 10th, 2022 at 12:33 PM ^
There are two ways that a covid vaccine reduces transmission:
1. It can prevent you from getting it in the first place (if you don’t get it, you can’t transmit it)
2. It can reduce the likelihood that you pass it along.
Vaccines were quite effective at both of these things prior to the omicron variant. They are less effective for Omicron, but still reduce transmission relative to being unvaccinated. And importantly, with regards to my point about hospitalizations, if you are vaccinated you are much less likely to end up in the hospital if you are unvaccinated.
It is ironic that in a post full of half truths and misrepresentations, you complain about being habitually lied to.
There is a word called "Humanism". it's all over the place in this COVID matter. the king of religion in 21st century is SCIENCE. Not the true science itself, it is certain theories and fabricated "experts" being idolized. It's sad to see new generations, even many young people in this board have not even realized it. Truly sad. smartness is not equal to wisdom.
This truly change myself how to educate my kids. Classical logic classes in middle school age is a MUST in my house hold. :P
March 13th, 2022 at 11:53 AM ^
Would love to have you explain to us all what classic logic tells us about covid. For some reason, I suspect it would be heavily influenced by your own version of SCIENCE and not by true science itself.
Bummer.
Just in time for NIT
Y'all are still arguing over COVID policies?
That was so 2 years ago.
In all seriousness, I find it weird that people still can't move forward. In Michigan terms, it's worse than those who still argue that Warde should've fired Harbaugh, but at least that started and ended this calendar year.
Some if y'all still bringing the butt hurt sarcasm, 1-2 YEARS after the fact. Get over it. These weren't the only rules, laws, guidelines or policies that you disagree with but impact you in life.
You have not paid attention from WHO press two days ago. Whenever they warns, shit will come out, it's true for the past two years, no matter how you believe in their intend or not.