are we going back into lockdown california

For example, the Supreme Court in January 2022 struck down a Biden administration COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandate for large employers. Legal challenges and legislation also have weakened the government’s ability to impose restrictions in response to public health emergencies, experts said.

He said he hasn’t seen any sign that public health experts are considering anything that extreme: 'I don’t know of anyone who’s even thinking of lockdowns, let alone mentioning them.' Returning to early pandemic mandates also wouldn’t be effective given today’s political climate, experts said. And the Food and Drug Administration approved Paxlovid as a treatment for COVID-19. About 81% of all Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in May. Immunity to the virus, either through vaccination or prior infection, is drastically higher now than it was at the pandemic’s onset. Those measures were put into place several years ago, before we had a vaccine, before we had any kind of treatments for COVID,' said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. 'We’re just in a very, very different place (now). Several public health and health policy experts told PolitiFact that it’s highly unlikely any level of government - local, state or federal - will reinstate broad mask mandates or stay-at-home orders in response to COVID-19. That’s partly because there is significantly more widespread immunity today than there was after the virus first emerged.Įxperts say return to early pandemic restrictions is highly unlikely will reinstitute the nationwide mask mandates and travel restrictions that were common early in the pandemic. Ron DeSantis.īut public health experts say it’s highly unlikely the U.S. We’ve seen these claims repeated by conservative commentators and politicians, including InfoWars founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, former President Donald Trump, Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Florida Gov. Posts warning about the return of COVID-19 'lockdowns' and mask mandates are trending widely on social media, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly Twitter. 30, claimed, 'If we let this lockdown happen, it’s gonna be permanent.' They’re gonna close down churches, they’re gonna close down small businesses.'Īnother TikTok video, shared Aug. 'They’re gonna bring back the injection mandates. They’re gonna bring back the tortuous mask mandates in schools,' one person said in an Aug. 'They’re gonna bring back draconian lockdowns. Now, some are sounding the alarm that more severe restrictions are on the horizon. schools and businesses have temporarily reinstated mask mandates to mitigate the virus’s spread. That could make it better at evading immunity from vaccines and past infections.Variant-driven COVID-19 cases are increasing and a few U.S.

But the new lineage has more than 30 mutations on its spike protein, which helps the virus latch onto cells and cause infection. It appears to be a descendant of the BA.2 variant, which was the dominant Omicron lineage in early 2022. Not much is known yet about how it stacks up against other variants. The strain, officially BA.2.86, was first spotted by virus trackers in mid-August.

For now, experts aren’t too concerned, though the UK is starting its fall Covid vaccination 2023 booster a month early due to the increased risk. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization are closely monitoring the situation. One called Eris became the most prevalent in July, followed by another dubbed Pirola, which has been detected in 11 countries including the US and UK as of Sept. It may feel like pandemic déjà vu: New Covid-19 variants are afoot, and hospitalizations are again on the rise.

Are we going back into lockdown california