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Opinion
Brooke Sample

How to Beat Pandemic Fatigue

We don’t just need more regulations and mandates. We need clearer information on how the virus works so that we can avoid it.

We need another drink to handle all this information.

We need another drink to handle all this information.

Photographer: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images

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A clutter of unhelpful pandemic rules is wearing people down. One-way systems in stores, outdoor mask mandates, ceaselessly cleaning groceries and packages — should these things be our top priorities for limiting the spread of Covid-19? 

Businesses are, of course, free to impose their own rules, but it’s unlikely many would knowingly make shopping less safe. The fault lies with the public-health community for being too shy in talking about which rules don’t help, leaving us with a tangle of rules and recommendations — and pandemic fatigue.