Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Cambridge, Somerville: to buy, university, taxi)

[rach5]

Wastewater levels again at Delta levels in MA. This is not just a bump. It's a full blown wave.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by rach5

Wastewater levels again at Delta levels in MA. This is not just a bump. It's a full blown wave.

Say it ain't so! Source?

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Say it ain't so! Source?

Never mind...found it.

"The levels of coronavirus in Eastern Massachusetts waste water continued to climb through the weekend, suggesting more COVID-19 case increases may be ahead.

The levels fell precipitously from heights reached early this year as the Omicron wave peaked. Then they bottomed out around the beginning of March. They have been rising gradually since, although they are still just a fraction of their peak, according to data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority."

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/...-eastern-mass/

[thebruiser500]

Really excited for people in this Communist state to try another tyrannical mask mandate. Will be great to see this state totally burn itself to the ground.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by thebruiser500

Really excited for people in this Communist state to try another tyrannical mask mandate. Will be great to see this state totally burn itself to the ground.

Nothing like that will happen. People will complain and B&moan and get over it (other than some holdouts) and then later on everyone will forget anything ever happened...like usual. People have the attention span of a goldfish.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Nothing like that will happen. People will complain and B&moan and get over it (other than some holdouts) and then later on everyone will forget anything ever happened...like usual. People have the attention span of a goldfish.

Yep. The places where masks might be reinstated are generally going to be the places that are more tolerant of them (Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, etc.) anyway. But I'm not convinced we'll see much reinstatement of any previous measures at all. The Federal guidance is essentially "assess your own risk." Between that guidance, vaccine availability, N-95 (or similar) availability, testing access and availability, the milder variant, the improving weather, and the hindsight perspective of the last Omicron spike, it's pretty easy for local governments to parrot the "assess your own risk" line.

Interestingly, there's been no announcement yet on the Federal public transit mask mandate which is set to expire in 5 days (4/18).

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Yep. The places where masks might be reinstated are generally going to be the places that are more tolerant of them (Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, etc.) anyway. But I'm not convinced we'll see much reinstatement of any previous measures at all. The Federal guidance is essentially "assess your own risk." Between that guidance, vaccine availability, N-95 (or similar) availability, testing access and availability, the milder variant, the improving weather, and the hindsight perspective of the last Omicron spike, it's pretty easy for local governments to parrot the "assess your own risk" line.

Interestingly, there's been no announcement yet on the Federal public transit mask mandate which is set to expire in 5 days (4/18).

Yes, rather mysterious isn't it. I'm glad I got my long haul flights out of the way in the first quarter of the year. I heard the CDC met on Monday and it was a bit of an impasse. This one would make me nervous, if they lifted it. Despite what they say about air circulation on planes, you can't convince me that I would be safe from catching the virus from the next seat passenger if we're both unmasked.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Yes, rather mysterious isn't it. I'm glad I got my long haul flights out of the way in the first quarter of the year. I heard the CDC met on Monday and it was a bit of an impasse. This one would make me nervous, if they lifted it. Despite what they say about air circulation on planes, you can't convince me that I would be safe from catching the virus from the next seat passenger if we're both unmasked.

I think it's fairly poor form to not have a decision within 5 days of the end date for something like this. Even if they can't reach a consensus, it should be pretty easy to push it one more month and cite the rising cases nationwide. If they do let it drop, I imagine it's still entirely up to airlines to handle it as they please. And considering the issues they had around the New Year with flight cancellations due to staff being out with COVID, I'm not so sure they'd all drop the requirements right away either.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I think it's fairly poor form to not have a decision within 5 days of the end date for something like this. Even if they can't reach a consensus, it should be pretty easy to push it one more month and cite the rising cases nationwide. If they do let it drop, I imagine it's still entirely up to airlines to handle it as they please. And considering the issues they had around the New Year with flight cancellations due to staff being out with COVID, I'm not so sure they'd all drop the requirements right away either.

And looks like they extended it by 2 weeks (?!). What a cop-out!

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/...ement-2-weeks/

[porterhouse]

Some foreign flag carriers (KLM, Virgin, BA) have already discarding or relaxing the mask requirement, though you still need to wear one on the UK carriers for US flights due to the regulations here.

I've seen very lax enforcement on domestic carriers the past 2 weeks.