August Status Update

Uriel Mont for Pexels

Most people in stores are back to wearing masks.

The county web site that displays local COVID infection data had gone from updating daily to updating weekly. Last week they announced they would change to a Tuesday/Thursday schedule, and this week I see they're moving to Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

Many schools have started, most in my area are starting this week, and a lot of places are not offering a virtual option at all this year (even in case of needing to quarantine). In some surging areas, entire schools or districts shut down within a few days or weeks of opening due to the number of people required to quarantine after potential exposure.

Some events that had been rescheduled (or newly announced) earlier this year when everything was looking up are now being cancelled or postponed.

Hurricane Ida just blew through Louisiana, but hospitals were not able to evacuate patients because there are no other hospitals in the region with space for them. When the power went out, doctors had to manually pump oxygen for patients on respirators. 

But...

I know tons of people going on vacations, many to Europe, the Caribbean, etc. (Even if you can travel there, a lot of things are still shut down once you arrive.)

I have a college student working for me who was rejoicing over how great it is that since her school mandated vaccines, they've removed all masking, distancing, and capacity requirements, so her classes are pretty much normal.

Broadway is still on track to reopen in September, and touring theater performances in other places have resumed.

Many fully-packed concerts, conferences, and other events are still taking place - there's been a lot of talk about super-spreader events stemming from various businesses' conferences that were held with no precautions.