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Letters From The Time Traveler: 2027
Dearest Edith,
You asked if society tried to use technology to overcome the pandemics in the 2020s.
When I first answered in 2020, the answer was yes. Masks, air filtration, sanitizing, and social distance were all important in 2020. They closed down schools and businesses for a time. Most were forced to comply as it was law. And enforced.
Not as much in 2021. The government proclaimed that vaccines were “the ticket out of the pandemic” and “breakthrough infections were rare”. As you have read, both statements are unequivocally untrue.
After the government declared Covid was over in early 2022, all hell broke loose. Literally. Covid was considered “endemic” and weary Americans just accepted it as par for the course.
It was a verifiable “shit show”. For the most part, the maskless roamed society, most did not have (or use) high-quality air purifiers (except the wealthy/elite), the social distance was gone and Purell lost sales.
In 2022, some were still careful, distancing, wearing N95, and getting their booster shots. But the majority as I observed no longer cared. By the end of 2022, most had contracted Covid, even those high risk and those who were careful.
#BA.5 was a game-changer for America, as their vaccines were not properly updated by fall 2022 and many, many people got sick. The National Guard was once again called to help hospitals. Schools refused to close down. Most employers did not let their employees work from home. (The ones that could work from home.) Fall/Winter 2022–3 was horrible.
Monkey Pox began to infiltrate society on a larger scale. It was impossible at this point for schools and businesses to ignore Monkey Pox, as the pustules are obvious.
Many had to isolate themselves for at least a month because of Monkey Pox and it spread like wildfire through community places like schools, businesses, gyms, saunas, and even public restrooms. Even for those who had been careful about Covid, Monkey Pox, because it is transmitted by air and on surfaces, became a bigger foe to defeat.
The CDC had largely ignored Monkey Pox during 2022. End of July 2022, the WHO started sounding the alarm- WHO declares monkeypox a public…
