Are We becoming less cautious about COVID-19?

The virus is still a problem

The United States has had over 5,500,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far as of the middle of August 2020. Many people are still testing positive for the virus. Listed as recovered from the virus are over 2,800,000 with deaths now standing at over 173,000 in the U.S. Deaths globally are at 776,157. The coronavirus is still a huge problem.

As businesses and schools have started to reopen in some areas and changes have been made, the debate still goes on as to whether or not it is safe.

The world got pretty strange when the coronavirus first appeared. Toilet paper could not be found in the stores. People were obviously buying lots of it and hoarding it because the did not want to run out of the necessary item. A young man who works for a company which manufactures toilet paper said that he never thought his line of work would be so respected as it seemed to be now.

Sanitizing products are still in short supply since so many of them are being first reserved for health care workers, schools, and such.

When the pandemic started in earnest, certain precautions were advised. Most people readily accepted that they should be staying home as much as possible. Self isolation and social distancing were put into effect.

Sanitizing everything was advised. People were wiping off surfaces with disinfectant wipes or spraying them with disinfectant cleaners. Even groceries and the bags which carried them were being wiped off.

People were told to wash their hands often and well for 20 seconds. That seemed like an easy thing for most people to do. People started to wear gloves for protection as well.

Then masks became the big thing to protect oneself and others. It was to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This caused more upheaval as some people rebelled against the wearing of masks just as people had fought against social distancing and avoiding crowds.. They did not want to be told what to do.

People started to fight against any orders and precautions which were recommended.

With the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer, came peaceful protests in cities throughout the country. Unfortunately, some of the demonstrations did not stay peaceful and turned into violent riots. Social distancing suddenly went out the window and was not being practiced. Some protesters were wearing masks, however. The protests continue.

The precautions taken at the start of the pandemic seem to have lightened up. People are not social distancing as they should. Many are still fighting against the wearing of masks. Most people are quite likely not sanitizing as much as at first.

People are tired of this COVID-19 and the pandemic. It may be here for a while, and we should accept that curbing it will take continued adherence to the recommendations of the health experts.

It appears that we have gotten less cautious about the coronavirus. We should remain vigilant. It is not over yet.

“These so-called bleak times are necessary to go through in order to get to a much, much better place.” ― David Lynch