Another year navigating through the covid pandemic
For the past two years, the entire world has undergone changes that nobody anticipated. If and when society will return “normal”, is a pending question.
One thing we can assume is that the Covid pandemic will not be as severe in the future as it has been for the past two years; and that individuals have gotten better at navigating through the pandemic.
Americans have made many advancements since the start of covid. Some of these advancements include setting certain safety precautions like quarantining after being exposed and new technology to further help protect us such as the vaccines produced by Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.
Since the beginning, safety measures have increased with the use of masks and lowering capacity in indoor spaces. At the beginning of Covid, there wasn’t as much enforcement on the use of masks and social distancing. Now that we have researched all about the virus, we have stricter rules and regulations on safety precautions. Many states like New York and New Jersey in the United States have mandated the use of masks at schools and businesses.
Many states also encourage their citizens to get vaccinations and only allow vaccinated people to enter certain locations such as some restaurants. To contrast, states like Florida have not mandated masks at schools and businesses and don’t enforce vaccinations as they do as in states like New Jersey.
Today, in New Jersey there are about two million covid cases. In comparison, in Florida there are more than five million cases. It is safe to assume that the least amount of safety precautions and regulations forced for that state, the higher their covid cases are. However, this may not be the case for every day, month, or year, because Covid is a very dynamic virus and can rapidly change at any second.
With the formation of new technology, scientists have been able to trace how the virus spreads, how to treat it, how to protect Americans against it, and how to minimize the covid death rates. Scientists have developed new technologies like covid tests, rapid tests, vaccines, and booster shots to assure us maximum protection against the virus and help decrease the number of cases around the world.
Although there is hope for the day the covid pandemic comes to an end, it doesn’t seem like it will be coming as soon as some may desire due to all the sudden outbreaks in parts of the world such as New Zealand. Right now in New Zealand, although they still have a low amount of cases compared to other places, they are facing their highest level of covid and are soon going to encounter new restrictions.
Even though they don’t have a high number of cases, New Zealand’s plan is to manage the new covid variant, “Omicron” in its early stages before it gets the chance to super- spread. Officials are confident that it will work because this plan was almost identical to their plan with the delta variant, and it has proven to be effective because they have been able to keep their cases at a low quantity.
As for the United States, Americans are doing a better job at navigating through the pandemic, the difference between the enforcements placed by each state makes it hard to exactly say where the U.S. stands about the covid crisis.
In New Jersey, https://covid19.nj.gov/ recommends everyone ages 12 and older to get a vaccination and booster shot to maintain safety. Although vaccinations do not immediately stop the spread of covid, it will help lower your risk of getting sick and spreading the virus.
While most places in New Jersey do not force you to wear a mask such as gyms and shopping centers, https://covid19.nj.gov/ also highly recommends that you wear one weather you are vaccinated or unvaccinated, especially in places with that are high risk to exposure, such as indoor spaces.
Through this pandemic, the most important thing is to stay positive and hope for the best in any situation. Going through the covid crisis is already enough on its own, and negative thoughts will only worsen the situation. To help us feel safe, and protect ourselves as well as those around us, we can take action and listen to the safety measures and guidelines provided by the CDC and government. It is important to remember that we are all going through this together, and that it is a united effort.
For more information, visit these sources…
https://www.npr.org/2022/01/23/1075142002/new-zealand-covid-restrictions-omicron
