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DM's avatar

My biggest takeaways from your very good article were the need for healthcare workers to isolate and the general lack of care and concern exhibited by the public. It is frightening to go to a doctors office or hospital where masks aren’t in sight on patients or even any of the healthcare people. And it is rare to see masks in public places including essential indoor places, as you mention, like grocery stores. We need stronger medical education, more principled leadership and a more caring public. All, alas, seemingly all beyond reach. But thanks for your continuing efforts.

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Jan's avatar

Thank you so much to taking this on--I was so glad to see your article in the Globe!-

Personally I find the dismantling of public health around Covid so discouraging--and California returned all of their government Paxlovid and is shutting down their treatment phone line:

1) although people are not testing/isolating--in an ideal world tests would be free/cheap/easily available and isolation would be based on testing and context (and there would be paid sick time), 2) "having the tools" and accessing the tools are 2 different things--interfacing with the healthcare system is difficult at best and now that Paxlovid may cost over 1500$ and people who would benefit can't obtain treatment easily--and vaccine update is very low, the tools are not being used or easily accessible.

The people who are aware that Covid is still out there and are attempting to reduce their risk of infection are the vast minority at this point and there is such stigma associated with masking or even admitting that I adjust my behavior to avoid infection.

Yes, we just experienced a very large surge and less people are dying or hospitalized, but still it's over 2000/week during this surge that so few are aware of.

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