SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/AP) — A compromise $10 billion measure buttressing the government’s COVID-19 defenses has stalled in the Senate and seemed all but certainly sidetracked for weeks.
A leading UC-San Francisco infectious disease expert believes the delay will have a ripple effect in the local efforts to keep the virus at bay. Hospitalizations have fallen, but new cases in several Bay Area counties are among the highest in California.
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“We’ve kind of taken funding for granted,” said Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. “For much of the pandemic we’ve had this emergency response. Drugs were free, tests were free, it was all hands on deck. Now with funding sort of stalled and people debating over it, it’s leading to a ripple effect.”
Mask requirements across the Bay Area have been lifted. It was hard to spot a mask among the 40,853 fans who gathered at Oracle Park for Friday’s San Francisco Giant season opener or among the hundreds who milled about the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for its Art Bash fundraiser.
On Friday evening, state health officials lifted their quarantine requirement for asymptomatic individuals who have been exposed to the virus.
While there are concerns of another wave of coronavirus infections due to the BA.2 sub variant, short of another mandate, the push to get vaccinated maybe ending.
“Honestly, if the individuals haven’t gotten vaccines yet, they’re likely not going to get it,” Chin-Hong said.
Many Bay Area residents told KPIX they feel there is now less direction from the state and federal level.
“I think it’s a little more of your own personal responsibility,” Terrie Freni-Johnson, a Marin resident said. “I think the data is out there, you just have to look for it a little bit more.”
Marin’s Val Walker pointed out that COVID hasn’t gone away.
“It’s not over,” Walker said.
Carlos Mascaro felt likewise
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“I believe it’s not over yet so I continue to wear my mask to keep myself safe and other people safe.” Mascaro said. “My personal opinion, we’re rushing a little too much into going back to normal but it’s what people want.”