Quarantine fatigue has well and truly set in – and that could spell trouble | Arwa Mahdawi
In some US states, bars are already packed again and you can even get your nails done. Will lockdown boredom lead to a dreaded second wave?
Coronavirus is officially cancelled: the US is bored of it, so it is over. That is what it feels like, anyway. In Wisconsin, bars are packed; Texas has reopened restaurants; and Mississippi and Louisiana are reopening their casinos. People in Georgia can get their nails done. In New York, where I live, strict lockdown restrictions are still in place, but people are growing lax. The weather was beautiful over the weekend and the streets were full of people drinking takeout cocktails with friends. Beaches were crowded.
Quarantine fatigue has set in. That is not just my observation: researchers at the University of Maryland tracked phone location data and found that, over the past few weeks, people have started going out more. While all the polls say that Americans support stay-at-home orders, their actions tell another story. Unfortunately, we have a good idea how this story ends: during the 1918 flu pandemic, many areas saw a deadly second wave of infections. Looking at the current scramble to return to normality, it seems highly possible that history will repeat itself.
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