Has life returned to normal? 8 COVID-19 experts speak

Three years into the pandemic, many medical experts have let their guard down and resumed some semblance of normal life, though most agree there is still a time and place for COVID-19 precautions. The Washington Post reported March 12.

“We all have times when we forget COVID exists, when we want to enjoy a moment without thinking about it,” Elizabeth Connick, MD, professor of medicine and immunobiology and head of the division of infectious diseases at the University from Arizona to Tucson, says the Job. “It seems more normal, but I don’t think it’s back to how it was before.”

Of the eight health experts the post was directed to, all were vaccinated and boosted, and most had COVID-19. Many experts said they still wear masks on public transport or in crowded, poorly ventilated indoor spaces.

“I would say things are pretty much back to normal, other than masking in various places I go. As far as my daily life, it’s receding,” Paul Volberding, MD, professor emeritus of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, says the Job. “I don’t know if the pandemic will fade from memory or linger. Right now, though, I think people are eager to start thinking about it.”

A majority of experts said they have resumed dining in restaurants, although they are split on how often they test before gatherings with friends and families. Some said they only tested if they were symptomatic or if community transmission rates were high, while others said they tested regularly because a loved one had a health condition that put them at risk. complications related to COVID-19.

Read the full article here.