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Now Is the Worst Time for Covid-19 Fatigue
Scientists fear an exhausted nation will let down its guard just as cooler weather raises risk of a twindemic
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are. We. There. Yet?” That’s how Andrea Taylor, PhD, describes her own growing exhaustion with the Covid-19 trip we’re all on right now, the frustrating and inconvenient detour in the journey through the longest year ever.
While the growing and horrific U.S. coronavirus death toll exceeds 200,000, Covid-19 fatigue is spreading even among people least affected by the pandemic, according to more than a half-dozen experts interviewed for this article.
The common sentiment: “Boy, do I really need some contact with people, and some normalcy,” says Taylor, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
“A mood that ‘we’re past this’ is palpable and worrisome,” says epidemiologist Saskia Popescu, PhD, an adjunct professor of public health at the University of Arizona, who sees the fatigue turning to complacency already, in a trend of fewer people wearing masks. “After nine months and a lot of failures in response, people are tired and it’s hard to stay vigilant. Now though, it is more important than ever.”
