‘How long should individuals organize lives around fear of COVID?’ New York Times finally ponders when society should return to normalcy, prominent doctor says, ‘Now’

People desperately want to know, “When will the pandemic end?” For months there has been debate on when society should attempt to return to a version of the pre-pandemic normalcy. Months ago, life returned to somewhat normal in many Republican-governed states after restrictions were lifted, yet there are still mask mandates in several Democratic-controlled states.

In Friday’s edition of the New York Times’ “The Morning” newsletter, the “paper of record” asked, “Is it time to start moving back to normalcy?”

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist David Leonhardt admitted that COVID-19 restrictions have had a negative effect on society: “Remote school has been a failure. Remote office work hampers collaboration. Social isolation causes mental-health problems.”

Leonhardt notes that a “society permanently dominated by Covid” is “jarring.”

“Eventually, the costs of organizing our lives around the virus will exceed the benefits,” he writes in the left-leaning outlet. “In some cases, we may have already reached that point.”

Leonhardt ponders, “For how long should individuals organize their own lives around a fear of COVID?” To answer this question, Leonhardt drew on the expertise of Dr. Robert Wachter – professor and chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Wachter is saying that “now” is the time to return to normalcy. – READ MORE