More COVID Minimizing -- and HMPV, Too

From Axios today, this headline: America's COVID-free summer mindset, with a picture of a mask that says "The End", like a movie screen.

"Americans who've long wanted to put COVID in the rearview mirror are actively embracing the idea the pandemic is over. For the first time, the majority of the public agrees the crisis has passed, according to the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.

"Why it matters: Increasingly booked restaurants, packed bars and crowded fitness centers in some areas are a testament to how routines influenced by COVID are gradually returning to pre-pandemic norms."

Well, nobody asked me, and I strongly disagree that "the pandemic is over" and "the crisis has passed." I find articles like this irritating and misleading.

"Booked", "packed", and "crowded places" only mean that Americans don't care about protecting themselves and others from COVID.  They mean that these are the places you should avoid unless you want to get COVID or Long COVID.

Do Americans think for themselves any more, or do they just read articles like this and go back to their 2019 lives?

These same people might want to read this CNN article from today titled Doctors say this is the most important virus you’ve never heard of.  Of course the people who have shrugged off COVID will shrug off this virus as well:

"The past winter was a heavy one for respiratory viruses, dominated by surges of RSV, influenza and Covid-19. But just as it was winding down, a little-known virus that causes many of the same symptoms – a lower lung infection, hacking cough, runny nose, sore throat and fever – was just picking up steam.

Cases of human metapneumovirus, or HMPV, spiked this spring, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s respiratory virus surveillance systems. It filled hospital intensive care units with young children and seniors who are the most vulnerable to these infections. At its peak in mid-March, nearly 11% of tested specimens were positive for HMPV, a number that’s about 36% higher than the average, pre-pandemic seasonal peak of 7% test positivity".

And no, it's not a hoax, or "just a cold".  

Good luck, minimizers! You're going to need it.