Masks Are Disappearing

[RSteve]

Over the weekend, I stopped at both Costco Business Center and Sam's Club. From my perspective fewer people are wearing masks. Employees, for the most part, were masked at both stores. Most mandatory masking has ended in Minneapolis-St. Paul, but the number of Covid hospitalizations hasn't appreciably shrunken. According to my M.D. nephew, at his St. Paul hospital, most Covid cases at his hospital are unvaccinated transfer ins from rural Minnesota and western Wisconsin. As when the pandemic first began, the death rate is highest among the elderly with other health issues and unvaccinated.

Two close relatives of my son-in-law died of Covid in rural Wisconsin, yet his sister, her husband and children are unvaccinated, as are many extended family members.

 

[DWSmith]

The Barnes & Noble in West Des Moines, IA has a sign posted on its front door telling all customers to wear face coverings. You get inside and you may not see any employees covering their faces, even the baristas. Not sure who is in charge there but I'm getting quite tired of it. I'm of the opinion that if they have a sign up like that then all of the employees should be wearing masks. If they don't have a sign up like then then I'll know to shop elsewhere. Seems quite dishonest.

 

[daveinlax]

People are still masking here in SoAZ. When I go shopping unmasked I’m definitely in the minority. I haven’t been back to WI since the holidays but nobody was still wearing a mask unless you were going to a heath care facility.

 

[RSteve]

I haven’t been back to WI since the holidays but nobody was still wearing a mask unless you were going to a heath care facility.

From local reports, rural WI has never had prevalent masking, only Covid fatalities.

 

[DWSmith]

From local reports, rural WI has never had prevalent masking, only Covid fatalities.

Sounds like rural and urban IA are the same as rural WI.

 

[Blackhorse]

MASKS ARE OFF…FLU IS ON! What’s apparently being noticed now is that cases of the FLU are picking up like crazy. During mask required times the flu virus was kept in check along with Covid. Now that masks are off Flu is blossoming. Yuk. So if you skipped your Flu shot this past season they’re recommending you go ahead and get it ASAP.

(This report was on my local news this morning. A quick check online with the CDC and I didn’t see any reports that mirrored the story. Doesn’t mean it’s not true. It just means I didn’t find it.)

 

[RSteve]

From local reports, rural WI has never had prevalent masking, only Covid fatalities.

Sounds like rural and urban IA are the same as rural WI.

South Dakota has been virtually maskless throughout the pandemic and has the highest per capita Covid fatality rate. That can also be attributed to South Dakota's low rate of vaccination.

 

[RSteve]

Yesterday, I was in an Aldi grocery and I was the only person in the store wearing a mask. The store manager has been there since the store opened a few years ago. He was openly against masking, said Covid was a hoax and even when the state had ordered masking often could be seen without a mask. When I didn't see him for a few weeks, I asked one of the employees if the store was under new management. He said, no that the manager was on leave with an undisclosed illness, but that all the employees had been tested for Covid. Yesterday, he was sans mask.