COVID-19 fatigue appears to be spreading as well as the virus as the pandemic lingers.
As COVID-19 cases of the virus spiral in Texas, many say they are tired of lockdowns and hearing about COVID-19, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Some citizens say they will not return to the lockdown of eight months ago when streets were empty and stores were closed, the story said.
“We just want to keep moving on with our lives as normal as possible,” Lexi Stevenson told the paper.
She said she is tired of hearing about COVID-19 and case counts. Friends and family, including her grandparents, have contracted the virus and recovered, and she is confident she would as well, the story said.
"At this point the rising coronavirus numbers don’t mean anything to most people anymore," Diana Cervantes, a professor and director of the MPH epidemiology program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, told the Star-Telegram. "They don’t hesitate to go out, often without masks or wearing masks incorrectly."
Coronavirus fatigue and the end of the shutdowns is causing infections to rise, Cervantes said.
Another factor is loneliness, said Sarah Hill, a psychology professor at Texas Christian University, who told the newspaper, “People are responding to what to them feels like a more imminent threat. The threat of social isolation.”
The story cited Lizzie Harris, who lives by herself and said it’s hard not to be able to visit friends during shutdowns. Even after the lockdown ended, she told the paper she has limited the friends to visit, she stays at home more and wears a mask when she does venture out.
Vinny Taneja, the Tarrant County public health director, said health officials are trying to balance lowering case numbers and allowing residents to resume normal lives. The county’s mask mandate expires Nov, 30, but will be extended, the story said.
Ultimately, it will be up to county residents to flatten the COVID-19 curve again, Taneja told the Star-Telegram.
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