The end of Covid-19 saga is near. At least in the state of Washington. Washington was one of the first states where Covid-19 outbreak started and it was one of the early states that went into lock downs. It has been almost two years since it all started. These couple years has been crazy globally, added more confusion, and after the first year it seemed like the end would never come. We adapted to the new reality, and stop bothering to ask if it was even possible to go back to the normal. To my surprise this week there were series of news coming out of the state officials that give glimpse of hope. Is it really happening? Have we reached to the end of the tunnel? Just maybe the time to open the new chapter and leave Covid-19 in the history books for good has arrived.
The first news came from King County and City of Seattle officials. On March 1st they are ending vaccine verification policy.
With new COVID-19 cases and hospitalization decreasing, and over 87% of King County residents over age 12 fully vaccinated, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced Public Health – Seattle & King County is lifting the local health order requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for entry into indoor recreational settings, or outdoor events. The vaccination verification policy will no longer be in effect as of March 1.
source
About time! It has really been a long time. Any good news is a welcome. Winter is ending, spring is almost here. There are going to be many outdoor activities and indoor gatherings in coming months. No longer having an extra layer of steps to take with showing vaccination proofs or getting tested every time when there is a need to attend various events does seem like old normal. Now that there are vaccines available for those who choose, and home test kits available that are easy to use, I hope we can be done with endless and often confusing debates. But most importantly it is great to know hospitalization numbers and covid cases have been decreasing. Let's be done with this, please.
This is not it. The news keeps getting better. Washington State Department of Health announced recently that wearing masks at large outdoor events will no longer be required starting February 18, 2022, which is tomorrow. However, that announcement still has masks as a requirement in public indoor settings. That was a good start. Now only if they could also lift the requirement for wearing masks in indoor settings, that would be amazing. Looks like that is going to happened very soon as well. As soon as the next month. Starting March 21st state of Washington is ending indoor mask mandate.
Gov. Jay Inslee has announced that, beginning March 21, face masks will no longer be required in most indoor settings, including schools and child care facilities. The mask mandate will still be applicable in health care settings such as hospitals, outpatient and dental offices, as well as long-term care and correctional facilities.
source
Wow. No vaccine verification. No masks mandate outdoors or indoors. What's happening? It almost seems like they are joking. Washington state has been one of the strict states when comes to vaccine requirements and masks. Seeing these government officials lifting these requirements and saying that there is evidence of significant decline in omicron cases in the states is a great news. I am normally very skeptical about what politicians say. But these are positive changes that I thought would take much longer to happen. Hopefully, things continue changing in this positive direction.
While the state and local officials are lifting these mandates, they are still leaving for businesses to decide what policies to implement regarding the vaccination status verifications and wearing masks. At the same time federal law will still require face masks to be worn in public transportation and school buses.
In the last piece of news from State of Washington, starting today, February 17th, 2022, hospitals will be allowed to resume non-urgent surgeries. Apparently, there was a pause on all non-urgent procedures, surgeries, and operations due to the high number of covid cases in the past months. It sounds like omicron is under control and hospitals are back in business of doing all kinds of surgeries.
Hopefully, this trend will continue and we keeps seeing such positive news from all over the world. Hopefully, there will be no more variants. These two years has been so crazy, it is not that easy to believe that these positive changes are actually happening. They are happening and that is great. There were a lot of lessons to be taken from this global experience, and I can just hope we as a humanity have learnt something and can do better in the future.
How are things in your parts of the world? Do you see changes happening? Are we done with Covid for good? Let me know in the comments.
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As we have already discussed in another thread (well, I think we did ;) ), I do not think we are close to the end. Moreover, I do not think the opposite too. Many epidemiologists mention that it is impossible to say anything. We still have quite a circulating virus, and it is impossible to know what the next mutation will be, and when it will be. The major problem is that “I don’t know” is not a solution politics like and are ready to accept. This is however what I (i.e. me, myself) am ready to take as a good answer.
Reducing restrictions is probably fine, especially if the hospital pressure goes down. We should however keep the basics on (masks in crowded places, etc.). At the end, those are quite mild constraints, and somehow reasonable in my opinion. Here in France, we will probably get there in a month or so.
Cheers!
I remember the discussion we had and I do agree with you. Just trying to stay optimistic.
Now I remember very well, with the optimistic/pessimistic thingie ^^
Hello midterm elections...
ya think?
Hmmm. That doesn't have ANYTHING to do with relaxing the restrictions....does it??
That turd needs flushed. I hope my fellow Washingtonians send Inslee packing. Inslee is just trying to get a seat at the big kids table.
Good point. But it could also be a coincidence.
Also talks of these things happening in South Africa. But people here are just going on their day today. Still wearing masks here and there but most ppl are chilled if you don't. more public indoor places will ask you to wear one. I live on the coat and people are walking around the beachfront with no masks since forever! It is what it is, but it seems the more they understand the virus, the more evident it is that they were wrong about the way they thought it spread initially and just taking precautions. Or we have mutated and learning to adapt and beat the virus! I hope this is true, things have been too crazy fr too long!
I must be one of those beach goers... 😉
Whaaaat? A fellow saffer? Where you from?
Nowhere close to a beach… Washington State
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I see things moving towards reopening but I have a feeling that covid will continue to come back. Why? I have a feeling that it will just pop up again as it mutates and the big pharma wants us to keep getting shots.
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This is what people are really waiting for to put stops to COVID 19 pandemic which I can said enough is enough. Let things come back to normal
In India too things are getting back to normal...schools colleges pubs were slowly getting back to normal...and people started to plan for travel.....not sure how things comes up ...this covid-19 left all us in dire state of mind..
I can't wait for the issue of covid-19 to stop which has really taken most of the headlines about the pandemic for a long time.
Over here in Nigeria, there is been a reduction in the number of recorded covid-19 cases. Importantly, lockdown ended a long time ago and you don't have to go around wearing face mask. I don't know if we are done with the virus but I do know that it is no longer as serious as before.
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I'm coming to Washington asap!
The Germans are still in panic mode :(
Hello to my 'geeky' friend.
That's awesome that you're getting a situation which is starting to look a bit more normal. I guess I'm a bit lucky over in Australia that we kind of missed the delta wave, and most of the country was vaccinated before Omicron went into full swing. In the state I live, NSW, we have some restrictions lifting at midnight tonight, and more in 7 days time. I can't wait to finally get rid of the masks!
(I've not had COVID, so perhaps I should be grateful, and I am. It really has been a terrible two years. I lost my grandfather and father both in the last twelve months, neither to COVID, but I hate to think they lived their last days cooped up in restrictions, barely able to leave home).
Have a fab weekend
Tim
I hope humanity has learned they should never, ever trust government. I hope those who destroyed lives over the last 2 years either repent or pay for their crimes. And I hope people never allow themselves to be subjugated by ambitious, heartless politicians again. I also know I hope for too much, given my study of human history.
It would be good news if it wasn't from the politicians lol, I never believe them
in Algeria when the number of covid cases reached its peak, people did not find a place in hospitals, nor oxygen bottles, although the number in this case did not exceed two thousand. And when the elections approached earlier, the government was reporting fewer cases than the real number, Now they encourage us to get vaccinated, but the vaccination rate did not exceed fifty percent.
I live in Texas. Life is much better here, other than the open border problem.
:) What! some good/hopeful news for a change?? That's awesome news! So there is an end in sight? some light at the end of this covid tunnel? yay!
As someone who works with the immunocompromised, please may I implore everyone to continue to act with compassion for those who may not be in the same position as you. Not everyone will experience mild symptoms and get over it in two days. Many people, even with this latest "milder" strain, end up severely ill with complications ranging from long covid to hospitalisation, permanent disability and even death. Wearing a mask does not hurt anyone. It simply prevents the virus from spreading from one person to the next. It's especially helpful with people who may have contracted the virus but are unaware: eg asymptomatic, or are brushing it off as "just a cold." Please. Remember that it's not just about you. It is a very big picture indeed. I will continue to wear my mask in public regardless of whether the law is scrapped or not 🤒😢😷
That being said, the last two years have been extremely difficult psychologically for every single one of us. I wish and pray just as much as everyone that we can put this pandemic behind us for good. Let's just do it safely and considerately.
Except when it does...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8072811/
If you can smell a fart through them...
At least it will keep the lumps out 😂
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Thanks for the link.
This article has been bastardised, misrepresented and so badly misunderstood by the antimasker movement. Masks are not harmful. We saved millions of lives by masking up. Your dentists and general surgeons and 1000s of other Healthcare practitioners wear these for 12 hour shifts daily, pandemic or no, nevermind thousands of other industries that require mask wearing to protect employees from their working environments.
This pandemic has taught me that humanity can be simultaneously meritorious in compassion and in imbecility.
I wear glasses and find my mask annoying, but you know what?
Not convinced, but thanks.
Fair enough. Hopefully this will all be behind us soon. I'm so tired of getting my own knickers in a knot. People certainly are entitled to their opinions. This was a great article. 🙏
I support you, if it were for me I would wear a mask all the time I go out in public places.
It makes me feel better and safer, even though I am vaccinated, I still worry for others.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Good to know that things are getting better over there. Here in Brazil, not so much I guess. We're seeing an increase in hospitalizations so I don't know if we'll be free from COVID so soon
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The strict rules has reduced here in Nigeria as well especially with wearing masks... However, vaccination is still being made compulsory for everyone.
COVID is something that is slowly decreasing if you would see the time graphs over the years with respect to patient recovery.
The most important part is the health recovery which shows the maturity of immune boost ups.
Hope, we could see more of the good results in the future. 👍👍
The case was never so serious in Nigeria with the hype. People have resorted back to their normal lives with or without masking up.
For example, the curfew in Lagos state was not officially lifted before people resumed with their normal activities. Even the government is saying nothing about it.
So this should possibly see the end of it all in the states as well.
If it were for me, I would prefer to live forever with a mask. Like those apocalyptic or dystopian futuristic movies we enjoy.
I have gotten sooo accustomed to spraying alcohol at every table and seat I get to use in public places that at some point I think to myself we should have been doing this since 1918.
Believe it or not, I carry a holster with an alcohol spray around my belt, just like a cowboy with his revolver, just that instead of a revolver, it is my spray bottle in an old cellphone holster.
The fact that people mingle and pack themselves into huge crowds for public events is a no-no in terms of sanitary precautions.
As for going out, who wants to go out and enjoy a family day when you see people around you being homeless, high on drugs and being mean to you and your family.
Why going to a restaurant to eat processed and ultra spicy foods when the meals have skyrocketed so much in price ?
And for the last straw.
Why physically go to work? When, instead, I can work remotely (hint: Hive) and stay at home with all my well accustomed amenities I have readily at home ?
Covid really did the most by making restrictions so to say the order of the day . If its abrupt end in some regions isn’t a thing to celebrate then what else?!
I hope this will be end of the pandemic🙏🙏🙏🙏
The situation is improving here in Oz too. Hopefully worldwide soon.
The day I've been waiting for! Same day that I will be participating to PUD for the first time! What a coincidence!
They are, but they are sensing that the joke might turn against them any time. So before that thing will happen, better to cease joking.
Yes, almost unbelievable! Just yesterday, almost everyone is crazy. Sorry that I could not share what's happening in our country related to the pandemic, the lockdown, and the vaccine. I stopped following them since June 2020 when I realized that the issue is highly politicized and I was just wasting my time arguing with those who are gullible to mainstream narrative.
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The situation of pandemic is not bearable any longer. I think many countries including mine will apply "life goes on" mentality despite daily deaths. Perhaps, a herb immunity, you should protect yourself somehow...
I hope it finally goes off the news headlines. This is just the scariest part of the covid-19 pandemic. I hope we can soon get to read some refreshing news ...
time to start a war
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