Time to Move On from COVID -- and From Caring

I read this column by the Washington Post's Fenit Nirappil and Lena H. Sun, and I thought, "Good! They didn't forget about the rest of us like the CDC has!"

High-risk patients alarmed by CDC’s plan to ease covid isolation guidance

"Concerns among medically vulnerable people are growing as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prepares to drop its long-standing recommendation that those with covid isolate for five days.

"People with compromised immune systems worry that co-workers will return to the office while they’re still contagious. At the same time, the few remaining policies guaranteeing paid leave for employees with covid are largely coming to an end. New York, the only state that still requires paid leave for covid isolation, is considering ending that benefit this summer.

"Even as many cheer loosening isolation guidance, others are troubled by federal health officials’ latest move to stop treating covid as a unique respiratory viral threat.

"The forthcoming change, first reported by The Washington Post, says people could return to school and work if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medication and they have mild and improving symptoms."

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It's not only about going to work and school.  What about retirees and elderly people with chronic health problems and autoimmune diseases, for whom a visit to the doctor's office is like playing Russian Roulette? I feel the same way this person in the article feels:

"'I feel like I’m on an island by myself,' said Lisa Savage, a 60-year-old retired nonprofit fundraiser in Charleston, S.C., who has several autoimmune diseases that keep her body in a constant state of inflammation.

"Savage said the CDC’s proposed changes scare her. When she hears people say it’s time for the country to move on, she thinks: 'Lucky for you. Those of us with compromised immune systems don’t have that luxury.'

Exactly.  For me, the emphasis on "moving on" is very irritating.  Did countries just simply shrug and "move on" from The Black Death, the 1918 flu epidemic, or polio because they were tired of taking precautions?

The notions of caring for others and the shared sacrifices are gone. Now it's just me, me, me.