Dropping COVID Mitigations

Sometimes you have to wonder what the CDC is good for. This is from CNN's coronavirus newsletter:

"If you were flying in and out of the US this time last year, you would have been faced with a labyrinth of regulations. You would have been expected to be well versed in your destination’s Covid-19 rules: Knowing your red zones from ambers, PCRs from RATs, and having your Covid certificates and vaccine passports. But on Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it will no longer maintain a country-by-country list of travel advisories related to Covid-19, noting that fewer countries are testing or reporting Covid cases themselves. 

 

While many have been traveling freely for some time, the move signals the latest message from the US government: How you approach Covid-19 is on you. Speaking of the decision, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen says we have entered “a phase in the pandemic where people need to make their own decisions based on their medical circumstances as well as their risk tolerance when it comes to contracting Covid-19.”

 

The CDC will now only post country-specific notices if there is a concerning coronavirus variant or other situation that warrants it. But it still recommends getting tested no more than three days before travelling -- and to not to do so if the result is positive."

No wonder so many people are convinced that COVID is over!  The CDC continues to minimize COVID protections while newer and more dangerous variants appear. Salon.com says that  "rising cases of variants BQ.1 and XBB could make COVID drugs all but useless, study finds", and "COVID variants are evolving ways around vaccines and treatments, fueling deadly conditions for a winter surge."

 

I'm used to anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers minimizing the pandemic, but it's just as bad when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does it!