The Emotionally Challenging Next Phase of the Pandemic – The Atlantic

Chin up, the security planner tells herself. Fortunately, Americansas individuals, institutions, states and groups of states, cities, corporationshavent been completely paralyzed by the White Houses failures. On our own initiative, we are taking steps that buy ourselves a certain amount of freedom: testing and tracing; developing better treatments; practicing smarter social distancing; masking; working from home; protecting vulnerable groups; masking; limiting contact intensity; minimizing contact numbers; masking; practicing better hygiene; promoting healthy buildings; being quiet in indoor spaces; and masking.

These practices have been adopted to varying degrees, just not widely enough to keep the coronavirus from ricocheting around the country. Trump helped encourage a culture war around masking. Fortunately, he lost. Today, more than 75 percent of Americansincluding in red states such as Mississippi and South Carolinaare living under statewide masking policies, and 74 percent of Americans favor a mandatory national one. Biden has embraced such a policy. If Trump had done so months ago, efforts to reopen the economy would be much further along.

Derek Thompson: Mask up and shut up

Instead, get your head around it: Rules and regulations controlling our movement and masking could well be in place for another year. The dilemmas facing retailers, airlines, and many other private-sector companies, such as how strict to be with customers who dont wear masks, are not passing problems that time will solve. Whether a crisis lasts a few weeks or 18 months inevitably affects your own personal risk calculations. Some normal activities, including seeing family in a faraway state, making new friends, or going to the gym, are easy to put off for a few months, but avoiding them forever carries a cost. The bad habits that you might have formed in the springsmoking or drinking as a form of stress reliefno longer look like short-term vices.

Everyone will need coping strategies. On my morning runs, Ive been playing Luther Vandross, hoping a sultry groove might distract me from the discomfort of wearing a mask and break through the numbness of pandemic life.

Eventually, the weather will warm again, and Americans will learn to go to work and school together again. Still, the U.S. has no excuse for being ravaged by a virus that more focus and discipline could have defeated. Unlike Asian and European countries now resuming a normal life with modest precautions, Americans squandered our first opportunity to beat the virus in early 2020. The calendar shows the consequence: Well pay for our mistake well into the new year.

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The Emotionally Challenging Next Phase of the Pandemic - The Atlantic