Panicdemic was how I have been spelling it for a while now, because panic has been the greatest problem from COVID-19.

Philadelphia was among the worst of the cities in this country when it came to forced masking, vaccine mandates, and throwing people out of work who did not comply. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers threw up constant roadblocks as the School District was trying to reopen the public schools. That history is what makes this story interesting:

COVID hospitalizations are rising. Philly schools still won’t require masks – mostly.

Students who test positive must stay home for at least five calendar days, and will be expected to participate in virtual learning. The district has also dropped its vaccine requirement for employees.

by Kristen A Graham | Wednesday, August 30, 2023 | 5:00 AM EDT

The Philadelphia School District announced its updated COVID-19 policies Tuesday, and the school system is keeping masks optional — mostly.

The news comes as COVID hospitalizations are up nationally, but the risk of contracting the coronavirus locally remains low, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Students and staff in the district’s 216 schools can wear masks at any time, but will not be required to do so unless the city health department deems it necessary amid a COVID-19 outbreak in a classroom, school, office or department, according to the guidance.

That would mean that the decision would be taken by Commissioner of Health Cheryl Bettigole, who loves her some mask mandates, trying to keep them even after CDC eased their recommendations, but was forced to back down due to political pressure. You can be certain of one thing: Dr Bettigole will be just champing at the bit if she sees any possible excuse to reimpose mask mandates!

People will also be required to wear masks if they test positive for COVID-19 after returning from five-day isolation, and are “highly recommended” to mask for 10 days after their last date of COVID exposure.

Students who test positive must stay home for at least five calendar days, and will be expected to participate in virtual learning. Parents are obligated to notify the school nurse or principal if a student tests positive, and those who show COVID symptoms during the school day must be picked up by a family member, and will be provided with a free COVID test.

Who will administer the test? If the student is simply sent home with a test, all that his parents or he has to do is say that it was just a cold, and that he tested negative. If the test is administered by the school, that means that school officials would have to touch the student, something which cannot be done without consent, or it constitutes an assault.

The district has also dropped its COVID vaccine mandate for new employees.

I’m sure that Mayor Jim Kenney, who strongly enforced a vaccine mandate on city employees, and had months-long efforts to fire employees who did not consent, would be appalled by that, but, then again, he’s been practically on strike for a year now.

I had hoped that I wouldn’t be writing about mask or vaccine mandates again, but there has been a not-so-quiet push for mask mandates and vaccine mandates from some of our friends on the left, including President Biden:

Biden plans to ask Congress for funding to develop new COVID vaccine, may recommend shot for all

The announcement comes near a year after Biden declared the pandemic was ‘over’

by Greg Wehner | Published August 26, 2023 8:35pm EDT | Updated August 27, 2023 3:26pm EDT

President Biden said Friday he plans to request additional funding from Congress for the development of a new COVID-19 vaccine, adding he may require everyone to take it whether they previously received a vaccine or not.

President Biden had declared the ‘pandemic’ to be over. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t, but for the vast majority of people, the panicdemic is long gone.

Biden, who is vacationing in the Lake Tahoe area, was asked by a reporter on Friday if he could say anything about the uptick of COVID cases and a new variant.

“Yes, I can,” the president said. “I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works.”

He added, “Tentatively it is recommended that it will likely be recommended everybody get it no matter whether they’ve gotten it before or not.”

Can you figure out the grammar in that last sentence? 🙂

At least right now, the government is recommending that people wait on getting a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, until the newest vaccine is approved, supposedly in mid-September. That strikes me as odd: if the vaccine has not yet been approved, they are still operating on the assumption it will be approved. That’s almost certainly a political decision, because a new version of the vaccine, supposedly more effective against a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can’t have much testing, and certainly no testing at all when it comes to long-term effects, all against a virus which is producing, for most people known to contract it, something like the flu, perhaps not fun, but survived by well over 90% of the people who contract it.

Of course, COVID-19 has been so mild that a lot of people have contracted it without any noticeable symptoms. With at-home tests, and people who see no reason to test, we really have no idea how many people have contracted it.

If the President wants to recommend that people get the new vaccine, that is within his freedom of speech; anybody can ask any other person to do, or not do, something. Where I strongly object is the idea that the President, or anyone else, can order people to take the vaccine. Even the Philadelphia School District realized that, because they understood that some people will refuse, and that the city has lost some good people to previous vaccine mandates.