As of today, masks no longer are required in indoor public places in Illinois. There are a few exceptions: hospitals, nursing homes, public transportation. And local governments and individual businesses may impose stricter rules. In addition, in the county where I reside, bars and restaurants no longer are required to check for vaccination status (a practice that, in my observation, was becoming increasingly spotty in any case).
Schools in Illinois have been a contested arena for masking for several weeks now. I reported earlier this month that a court had temporarily blocked the governor's statewide education masking mandate, causing confusion and some convulsions at districts across the state. On Friday, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled against that lower court - but then the governor lifted his education masking mandate, effective today.
My daughter teaches in a public school district. When mask confusion reigned earlier this month, her district's board landed on a family-decision policy: students would wear masks if the parents required it; if the parents didn't require it, the students wouldn't have to wear masks. And how does a teacher like my daughter know which parents require their children to wear masks? She has no idea, and she won't even try to keep track of it. She leaves it up to the students. She's continuing to wear a mask.
The Chicago Archdiocese had lifted its own mask mandate for worship and religious education a couple of weeks ago. I've been going mask-free at the altar until the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and then removing my mask again after communion. Looking out at the congregation, it appears to me that about half the people are continuing to wear a mask and about half aren't.
I assume that half-and-half observation could extend beyond the walls of the church. Some people have been agitating to get rid of mask mandates, and now they'll gleefully go about their business mask-free. Others are risk-averse and will continue to wear masks even when not mandated; some of these folks may have been grateful for having the governor's mandate behind them to relieve them of the social pressure to explain or apologize.
At any rate, we'll see how we do in this next, somewhat less-protected stage of the fight against COVID-19.
I still wear masks in public except when I dance. I only attend smaller dances. I am still concerned about the most vulnerable. They're out there. But I'm hoping we're coming to the end of the pandemic and perhaps the mice scientists should be thanked for this. I'm reminded of the ending of "War of the Worlds", when all mankind's might having failed against the Martians, the bacteria save us.
ReplyDeleteMask rules here were lifted a week ago with similar exceptions as Jim described. Last week Maryland had the fewest new cases/ 100,000 in the country and my county is half the Maryland rate - the lowest in the state. Since the mask rules were lifted I have been out a few times. At the grocery store at last 90% of the customers wore masks and 100% of the staff. At a small seafood cafe where I ordered carry out every customer and staff member wore masks. At the big shopping mall in the community about 90% wore masks, including most of the teenagers. None of the private establishments require masks now but obviously people in our community (which also has a very high vaccination rate) are clearly waiting to see if the end of Covid is really here. The one exception to the vast majority wearing masks voluntarily was at the neighborhood Catholic church. We happened to walk by the doors on Sunday on our neighborhood walk. Just as mass ended. It appeared that only 50% or fewer worse masks, even though transmission risk would be far higher in the mass than at any of the far less crowded places I visited during the week. This parish was progressive when we went there for 30+ years. From reading the bulletin I know that it has gone Uber conservative, EWTN ish. A neighbor we didn’t know well it would see at church occasionally on Sundays years ago died late last summer or early fall. He was anti- vax and Covid got him. His wife was vaccinated. We learned of his death from another longtime neighbor and member of that parish ( a retired nurse) when the vaxxed widow put the house up for sale.
ReplyDeleteI can’t help but wonder how many people got Covid or died from Covid because of the failure of priests, bishops, and ministers to insist on masks and vaccination.
I thought it sad that the teenagers at the mall are still exercising care - for themselves and others - but so many Catholics in my old parish do not.
Mask use here has been falling off for weeks, if not months. We don't wear them in church any more. I was wearing one in stores, but now if it looks super crowded I just don't go in. There was a mask mandate at work which was lifted a couple of weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that masking is over because it makes everyone less testy and less likely to hassle those of us who still do mask up.
ReplyDeleteI will continue to take precautions as local conditions dictate for the foreseeable.
Over the last two years, I have pretty well scoped out which stores have lots of aisle space and when they're least crowded.
No more movies/concerts/theater, indoor parties, live knitting/book groups, or restaurants.
Stores, libraries, and outdoor festivals as hospitalization rates and crowds permit.
I am no longer disappointed if a destination turns out to be more crowded than expected and I don't feel I can stay. I try to have a couple of alternative destinations just in case.
I watch hospitalization rates (I don't think test rates are a very good indicator now that so many people are doing home tests). I feel comfortable swapping out my KN95 for a cloth mask (more breathable) inside places that are not crowded. I keep both kinds in my purse just in case.
I have become more connected with my outdoor activities--feeding birds, trudging around the block with my stick, and fiddling around in my dinky garden.
I do need to plump up my array of winter activities.
I have also realized that dying from covid is not the worst alternative to some more protracted and wasting diseases that are among the likely possibilities given current health status.
I think this is pretty much going to be the new normal. At least until climate change overtakes us. But let the evils of the day be sufficient ...
Speaking of masks, I've been on the APAP machine for a month now. My usage is recorded and has to be a minimum of 4 hours per night for 70% of the nights until my follow up appointment end of April. This is for insurance purposes. I had no problems sleeping from the first day. I no longer feel narcoleptic during the day and rarely take naps. I am more active. Unexpectedly, my sinuses are no longer congested. So, it seems to be working in many ways. I wish there was a pill I could take but a mechanical problem requires a mechanical solution. Another side benefit: I can pull covers over my head without drowning in my own CO2.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually more or less a perfect patient, but I drew the line at CPAP (I guess it's BiPAP for me). I can't stand not being able to touch my nose it if itches, and I can't figure out how to get the mask off at night to get a drink of water. My insurance company also required me to wear the blankety-blank thing in order for them to pay for it, so I declined it. I'm sure I'm paying somewhat of a price in terms of sleep quality, but it seems to be bearable/manageable. Also, life insurance companies won't insure me anymore. But when I talked to my lung doctor about it, he snorted and said, "How old are your kids? What do you need life insurance for at your stage of life?"
DeleteStanley, glad you have made the transition. Raber does not snore now that he has had his stent installed and has lost weight/is more cardio fit. That was a pleasant development.
DeleteLife insurance? I carry two policies for burial and to help Raber pay off the expenses of my demise. Since cancer diagnosis, I am routinely rejected, so am glad I pony'd up when I did.
Stanley, my husband had a similar experience to yours adjusting to the CPAP. It really helped my sleep that he's not snoring like a chainsaw. His sleep study indicated he had something like 40 apnea episodes in half a night. (I tried to tell him.) It's going on a decade-plus that he's had the Cpap.
DeleteJim, it sounds like you have a mild case of the snores. I'm guessing if it was worse your wife would let you know about it. A CPAP isn't for everyone.
Happy to join the eminent company of your spouses, Jean and Katherine. Jim, it certainly isn't for everyone. I'm surprised I am adapting as well as I am. Maybe I've been dealing with enough crazy contraptions in my life and wearing respirators to protect against vapors and particles, even before COVID.
DeleteOn Monday there were 11 new cases in my county of about 200,000. Last week’s numbers were mostly in the high teens. In the first part of February cases were going down at the rate of about 6.5% per day; the past week it has slowed down to about 6% less each day.
ReplyDeleteThe number I use for decision making is the total new cases for the last two weeks which is a good estimate of the number of active cases in my county. If cases continue to go down at 6% per day, that total should be under 100 by the second week of March, under 10 by the middle of April, and zero by June 1st.
My criterion for resumption of large group activities, e.g. church, eating out, fitness centers is zero cases in the county for thirty days. I am not sure that will ever happen, or perhaps it will only happen during summers. Anyway I have decided that I am willing to live the rest of my life without participation in large group activities, and to be very selective in participating in small group activities.
This evening Biden will probably claim victory against the virus, and a return to normal life. I am very skeptical. The virus mutates too quickly and in very unpredictable ways. With probably less than a month’s warning, we could be back with a more severe virus that escapes vaccines, and prior immunity and that could be fatal to children and young people as well as the aged and the infirm.
I think we all need to have our plans for how to live extensive periods in lockdown, including developing networks of like- minded friends who are willing to abstain from large group activities and be selective about their friends for small group activities.
"This evening Biden will probably claim victory against the virus"
DeleteInteresting prediction! I can understand the temptation to do that - but I'd think that, after "Mission accomplished" on the aircraft carrier, any president would be wary of declaring victory over a foe that hasn't actually been vanquished.
He came close to claiming victory last summer before the delta variant came about.
DeleteThe virus continues to be a source of division and politicization. He will want to get past that. And he does have the chance of uniting the country around Ukraine and against Putin.
And, of course, we all know who is for Putin.
Well, the WH and Capitol have been secured with fences and extra security personnel. Everyone is on alert. But the truckers who were supposed to descend on DC today aren't very much in evidence. They had said they would disrupt the beltway traffic with a rolling, slow blockade before heading into town. I just checked the traffic map. Rush hour starts here around 3pm - it's 3:22 and there are no signs of unusual traffic. The bridges into DC are open and moving fine. I checked the local news station and there is no mention at all of the trucker convoy on their homepage with multiple stories ranging from the Ukraine crisis and local efforts to help, to the free diaper giveaway in DC, to all the wonderful things the GOP in the VA legislature are doing like killing voting rights legislation to refusing to remove language from the VA Commonwealth Constitution that makes gay marriage illegal (left from the olden days, but they won't get rid of the language).
Delete"They had said they would disrupt the beltway traffic with a rolling, slow blockade before heading into town. "
DeleteA pox on their house. Although, with all the dignitaries and motorcades in and out of DC, I suppose rolling, slow blockades are par for the course.
Just what is it the truckers are supposed to be protesting? In Ottawa, wasn't it COVID restrictions and mask mandates? The truckers should read the NewGathering blog - all those restrictions are lifted now!
What are they protesting? Likely some lie they were told on Truth Social, Storm Front, or FOX. The upside is that they're making themselves so odious that their sympathizers are shrinking to a small hard core of nut bars.
DeleteAnd speaking of bars ... William Barr's memoir was reviewed in the WaPo yesterday. It contains a very unflattering look at Trump, the certifiable crazies who had access to him, and the maneuvers the DoJ had to do to prevent the White House from turning into Bedlam.
Barr out and out calls for the GOP to look for a different candidate.
I despise Barr's brand of entitled Christian conservatism across the board, but, Lord, it's like a breath of fresh air to feel like you can despise someone's ideas without doubting their sincerity, decency, or hold on sanity.
I enraged Raber yesterday by telling him that the GOP probably saved Democracy--Pence declining to halt certification, McConnell refusing to accept the stolen election lie, Barr navigating the proposed subversions of justice.
Of course, the Republicans put Trump in there in the first place ...
The Ukraine stories have sucked all the oxygen out of the air of the truckers. Some were starting from the West Coast several days ago, but it all fizzled out. There were little stories here and there about their inability to assemble enough trucks (mostly they were cars). Some of them got caught in rush hour traffic in various places.
DeleteThe world is an unpredictable place. Who would have thought the truckers would cause chaos in Canada but fail in the US? Seems a lot of people thought that the Ukraine government would fall as fast as the Afghanistan government did. But that doesn't seem to be happening.
Jim, rush hour traffic makes its own blockade! But the trucks were supposed to be here early enough to fan out across all the lanes and drive slowly to create a mess. The only motorcades that blocked all traffic that I’ve personally been impacted by were presidential motorcades. I was stuck for a really long time trying to go home from work the evening before Jimmy Carter’s inauguration. My garage was a block from the WH and I had to cross Pennsylvania Ave . No way. The other was when they blocked the GW parkway from the CIA heading to DC. I was going the other way on the Parkway and wondered if there was some sort of terrible accident in the southbound lanes because there weren’t any cars coming from that direction. Then a few big, black SUVs with black windows showed up, followed by some park police cars, followed by a long black limousine flying the presidential flag, followed by more big, black SUVs etc. On the car radio the news guy mentioned that Obama was returning to the WH from meetings at the CIA. I was surprised because the PTB usually go from the WH to the CIA by helicopter. They don’t stop traffic for Ambassadors but maybe for foreign heads of state. I don’t know. But that would only be in the city. They have blocked major roads in DC this evening that go to the Capitol area because of the Union speech.
DeleteUnrelated, under the category of misinterpreted headlines. There was a story on the NCR site today that "Joseph Espaillat Is New York's First Dominican Bishop". I read it to mean that he was a member of the Dominican religious order. Turns out that it meant his ethnic background is from the Dominican Republic.
ReplyDeleteLol. My reaction to the headline was the opposite. Because my former RC parish had a twin parish in the poorest part of the DR, I visited there with a small group from the parish, traveling to different villages with the bishop during his annual visit to the parish there, spread out in the mountains, with about 30,000 people, who couldn’t attend mass very often. The priest went to them a couple of times a year, often riding a horse or mule to reach the villages. So my first thought was that it was great that there was now a bishop in NY (which has many immigrants from the DR) with DR heritage. The Dominican order never crossed my mind.
DeleteThe author mentions that this priest, now bishop, has woven Afro- indigenous traditions into liturgy. The feast day masses I was part of in the DR, concelebrated by the bishop and the pastor, were amazing. I had never before been part of a liturgy that included an informal liturgical dance (with the bishop and two others), nor heard drums ( a local type of drum that I had never seen before) during mass. The energy and joy of the participation of the congregation were palpable. The people there were all very poor. Really poor. It often seems that the faith of the really poor is stronger and more deeply felt than that of those who live in rich countries, or among the richest people at the top of the heap in the poor countries. It’s something I have pondered a lot since witnessing it in person.
The bishop himself was warm, humble, and more pastoral than any cleric I’ve ever known in my life. He is my “ ideal” bishop. At every village we visited, he would meet with the people and talk with the people, but really he would mostly mostly listen to their concerns. The villages were very small, so everyone who wanted to speak with the bishop personally could do so. These conversations went on for a few hours in each village. Then he would say mass for them. He was practicing “accompaniment” without having been told to do so by a Pope. But he’s from a Hispanic culture, just as the Pope is. Maybe it’s instinctive for them.
The descriptor “Dominican” in the headline is ambiguous as people from Dominica are also called Dominican. I had to read the story to know the new bishop’s heritage.
Statement of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral Archbishop in DC
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oca.org/holy-synod/statements/his-beatitude-metropolitan-tikhon/statement-on-war-in-ukraine
Statement on war in Ukraine
Dearly beloved children in the Lord,
In light of the distressing developments in Ukraine affecting millions of innocent people in the region, I wholeheartedly urge you to pray for peace and the well-being of our brothers and sisters who are enduring this tragic moment.
I ask that the hostilities be ceased immediately and that President Putin put an end to the military operations. As Orthodox Christians, we condemn violence and aggression.
I offer my support and prayers to my brother and concelebrant, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufriy, who has the most difficult task of leading his beloved flock in this time of pain and anxiety. I also assure my prayers to the other religious leaders serving in Ukraine who have the delicate task of leading their communities in these difficult times.
To our beloved Ukrainian brothers and sisters, as well to all of you who are certainly troubled and concerned about these recent developments, I offer the words that the Lord Himself offers to us through His Psalmist: “The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace (Ps 29:11).”
May we fervently offer our petition to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to have mercy on us “for the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of the holy churches of God, and for the union of all.”
Yours in Christ,
+Tikhon
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
Update on the trucker convoy. ( What trucker convoy.)
ReplyDeletehttps://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/1/2083264/-Far-right-convoy-ends-up-a-near-total-bust