I’m in central Florida, and frankly things are pretty normal here. Schools are back in, kid sports are all back on, indoor dining open, malls open, movie theaters open, buffets open, theme parks open. People are living their lives, just wearing masks indoors.

I’m perfectly fine with the way things are now. Love it in fact. I’ll take “now” as normal from here on out.

This is the new normal. Get used to it. Wear your mask. Shop in person infrequently. Get take out. Homeschool your children. Work from Home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, according to Fauci, end of 2021.

Unpopular opinion: IDGAF about what he says anymore.

TOTALLY. He also said at beginning of the year that this was no big deal. The guy does NOT know what he is talking about. Just because he has a title does not mean he is the all knowing on healthcare in US.

I'm suggesting 3-5 years. 3 yrs min for public schools to go back in-class 100% for all the states and 3 years min for masks to be voluntary. It's another product to market and make money off so def going to be hard to take the mandatory off it even if we don't really all need. It's all about money. Festivals, cultural events like MET, plays, that's all small money and that's going to probably not happen. Pro sports will come back before and even for pro sports I think will be some time before things are running at 100% across the board - 3- 5 years.

Anonymous wrote:Well, according to Fauci, end of 2021.

Unpopular opinion: IDGAF about what he says anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who is a hospitalist and has worked with Covid patients. She predicts 3 years before schools can reopen and have a normal life back. I was surprised by that but she would know better than me what to expect.

I would rather be dead than live like this for three years. So not worth it. People will be homeless, unemployed, bored, hopeless and suicidal. This is not sustainable for more than another six months for most people, maybe less. We can’t destroy billions of lives long term over a 1% mortality virus that half the infected people don’t even know they have. That would go down as the single most stupid move in history.

Thank you, i agree. Most people do not care. I think many secretly enjoy seeing others so miserable.

Anonymous wrote:Masks probably won’t go away-we’re too conditioned.
Commutes and office life for many are things of the past. TW is the new normal.
Schools maybe return in fall 2021.
Movie theaters are dead
Concerts, large sporting events, other crowded fan-type events won’t maybe return in a couple of years.

No, we won't be wearing masks forever. I am sure many want to, though. But no, sorry.

Well, according to Fauci, end of 2021.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Masks probably won’t go away-we’re too conditioned.
Commutes and office life for many are things of the past. TW is the new normal.
Schools maybe return in fall 2021.
Movie theaters are dead
Concerts, large sporting events, other crowded fan-type events won’t maybe return in a couple of years.

Give me a break. You sound thrilled about this. Some people really WANT this .....! Look at other states that are already back to normal. I’ll move to one of them if I have to. Or another country. But I’m sure your prediction won’t come true as much as you’d love it. I have already gone to the movies and the gym and restaurants etc etc and so will everyone else. And school is reopening everywhere...whether you like to or not.

I'm on this team. I am not wearing a mask for one second beyond when it's legally required. The mask is the absolute worst.

Sporting events are working their way back already

The attitude on this thread is just very typical of the DC area--but close in DC in particular. They are so closed minded, so risk averse, such rules followers, that they cannot begin to comprehend the reality. That we have been snowed so completely by the politicization of coronavirus. Half the country, at least, is very close to back to normal. It makes no sense to hear these liberal, nerdy, introverts, thrive in the thought that they get to wear masks and watch people suffer for two or three more years. It is their fantasy. Sorry to tell you, we will be back to normal by December, January at the latest.

I am happy to see there are some normal people in the US. I am in california and everyone is just crazy paranoid.

Anonymous wrote:It is just too hard to know. At the surface, COVID does seem to be more treatable than it was in the beginning. That said, the goal is still to keep the hospital beds open. Who knows how it will morph in the future and when governments and companies will be comfortable easing restrictions.

Another example of policy being created by people who don't know public health/health care utilization. Because each hospital bed in this country (especially ICU beds) requires a tremendous amount of staffing, infrastructure, equipment, etc. which drive up the cost of insurance, we purposely try to keep the number of beds down to just barely meet the need, so that there is normally around 70-75% utilization (varies by state). All of these dashboards that say that acute care bed utilization needs to be below "X" (See MoCo here: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/data/#dashboard) are basically saying that people who are normally sick, or having surgeries can't use those beds or somehow we are failing at control of COVID and can't open schools, etc. Please people - have humility and don't try to make policy where you have no information.

Anonymous wrote:I know Joe Biden would have handled this infinitely better because he and Obama had a Pandemic Response Team in place as well as a pandemic plan. Trump got rid of both of them.

But not to be political, things will change for the better in January if we have a new administration. I know this. We’ll have a national plan.

Our schools(not DC) are already back and the precautions of our governor are good. We’re prioritizing school (no parties, no playdates) and still taking all precautions.

But normal? Pre-covid normal where we hugged people, went to concerts and plays, hung out at friends homes inside for hours... not coming back for at least another year.

To do what? Again, public health is a police power reserved to the states. The Feds provide money (check), technical assistance when requested, FEMA response (when requested; check); regulate pharmaceuticals (fast-tracked test kits, vaccines and therapeutics, along with funding and guaranteed purchase of approved vaccines; check); supposedly control the borders (please don't tell me that Biden's plan will do a better job of tracking entrants or would even think of travel bans); negotiation with corporations to provide ventilators and PPE (check); use of the military for logistical assistance in vaccine distribution (check); again, don't tell me that the Biden "national plan" would be better at encouraging production of pharmaceuticals and PPE in the U.S.

Mask mandate - not constitutional; National Lock-down - not constitutional; Quarantines between states - not constitutional.

So Joe will do a better job at modeling mask-wearing and having crowds at his inaugural stand in spaced hula hoops?

I am so tired of people who have no knowledge of epidemiology or public health infrastructure go on like this.

mybestlife wrote:When do you suspect the country will return to some semblance of normalcy? Will things be better in 2021? Or do you think we are in for a much longer ride?

2025. It’s been leaked.

I'm a born pessimist and yet I have hopes that life will be somewhat more normal next summer. Some will have been vaccinated. Hopefully, there will be new and more readily available treatments. There will be more research and guidance on transmission and safety measures.

Of course, all bets are off if Trump wins or refuses to relinquish his reign.

Anonymous wrote:It is just too hard to know. At the surface, COVID does seem to be more treatable than it was in the beginning. That said, the goal is still to keep the hospital beds open. Who knows how it will morph in the future and when governments and companies will be comfortable easing restrictions.

I wish the goal was to keep hospital beds open. It has morphed into something else — to prevent anyone from getting it period. We’ve basically adopted abstinence only sex ed for Covid and it’s about as effective. People eventually give into their natural instincts to socialize with other humans and make up their own rules to do it. The better more sustainable approach is to tell most people to mask up, keep indoor socializing to a minimum, but otherwise have fun. You could keep that up indefinitely and I it would be pretty effective.

It is just too hard to know. At the surface, COVID does seem to be more treatable than it was in the beginning. That said, the goal is still to keep the hospital beds open. Who knows how it will morph in the future and when governments and companies will be comfortable easing restrictions.