Page 2 - aruba-today-20220301

A2 UP FRONT
Tuesday 1 March 2022

guesswork involved, but is
it worth the hassle? Prob-
ably pretty soon it won't be
worth the hassle of messing
with masks."
More broadly, concern
about the spread of infec-
tious diseases as a threat to
the U.S. has fallen sharply
from a clear majority just six
months ago, according to
the poll.
About half of Americans
now say they are "extreme-
ly" or "very" concerned
about the threat posed by
infectious diseases, down
from roughly two-thirds in
August. Still, only about 2 in
10 are not concerned.
The current level of con-
cern is similar to an AP-
NORC poll in January 2019,
well before the global pan-
demic.
Dave Pitts, a computer en-
gineer and college math
and science tutor in Den-
ver, is vaccinated, doesn't
socialize much and wears
a mask when he goes out,
so he's not that worried
about getting COVID-19.
But Pitts — who spent three
miserable weeks battling
influenza in the 2009 H1N1
pandemic — predicts in-
fectious disease will con-
tinue to pose a huge threat
A trailer with the words "Freedom! No Mandate" on its back window travels with a trucker caravan heading toward Washington D.C. to the country.
to protest COVID-19 mandates, Feb. 23, 2022, near Needles, Calif. He worries about a new,
Associated Press even deadlier variant of
the coronavirus.
Continued from Front a January AP-NORC poll. that recognizes that, at risk for serious illness and "I think we're in a better po-
In Lincoln, Nebraska, truck- Just 15% think COVID-19 will some point, we're going death than people who sition now, but I think the
ing dispatcher Erica Marti- largely be eliminated when to have another wave," got the shot. minute spring break hits,
nez said she let down her the pandemic is over. said Dr. David Dowdy, an "Even after all that, if we're we're going to see some-
guard last summer, before Signs the nation is ready to epidemiologist at the Johns going to get something, thing worse show up," he
the deadly delta variant move on from the biggest Hopkins Bloomberg School we're going to get it, and said. "I think humanity's too
took hold, then "stopped COVID-19 wave to date of Public Health. there's nothing we can do dumb to be free of this just
doing a lot of the social are everywhere. Statewide "And we're going to need about. So there's no use yet."
stuff" when cases spiked mask mandates have all to be willing to buckle worrying about it," said Ad- The U.S. is still reporting
again during successive but disappeared, and on down just a little bit in the kins, a 43-year-old stay-at- about 66,000 new, con-
waves of delta and omi- Friday, the Centers for Dis- future." home mom. firmed infections per day
cron. Now, with virus num- ease Control and Preven- Worries about infection Public support for mask- as the pandemic enters its
bers falling rapidly, she said tion said it's no longer rec- have dipped among both ing requirements also has third year.
she is more comfortable ommending indoor mask- vaccinated and unvac- ticked down, though Amer- In North Carolina, Reeves'
about socializing than she ing for most Americans, cinated Americans. Still, icans are still more likely to restaurant gift certificates
has been in months. based on current data. roughly two-thirds of vacci- favor than oppose requir- have been collecting dust
"I feel like the country is Cities are lifting vaccine re- nated Americans say they ing masks in public, 50% for two years. He said that
desperately trying to re- quirements to enter bars, are at least somewhat wor- to 28%, in the new poll. In will soon change as the vi-
cover from the last two restaurants and entertain- ried about COVID-19 infec- August 2021, 55% were in rus eases its grip.
years," said Martinez, 36. "I ment venues. Companies tion. About 4 in 10 unvac- favor. Support was much "After getting vaccinated,
think there will always be are bringing workers back cinated Americans say the higher, at roughly three- the probability of a bad
new variants popping up, to the office. California said same. quarters of the public, in result is really low. I'm rea-
left and right. I think, sadly, it's taking an "endemic" Amie Adkins, of Gassaway, 2020. sonably well protected,"
this is going to be the new approach to the virus that West Virginia, who is unvac- George Reeves, an he said. Martinez, the Ne-
norm for society," with peo- leans on prevention and cinated, said she was "sur- 83-year-old semiretired braska transportation dis-
ple taking fewer or more swift containment of out- rounded" by omicron but electrical engineer in Ra- patcher, said she looks for-
precautions as cases ebb breaks. never worried about get- leigh, North Carolina, said ward to "actually taking a
and flow. "I think it's reasonable and ting it, counting on a mask his mask might soon come vacation now, a vacation
That's a widespread atti- appropriate for people to and good hygiene to pro- off. to try to feel as normal as
tude; most Americans think live their lives a little more tect herself. "It's a risk-reward kind of possible. Maybe Mexico.
the virus will stick around as as the risk of infection goes Data shows unvaccinated thing," said Reeves, who is Mexico sounds wonderful
a mild illness, according to down but to do it in a way people are at much higher vaccinated. "There's some right now."q