Pandemic is over?

During my first two years of high school, I spent spring break the same way — on a mission trip with my youth group. Spring 2020 was no exception. My team and I partnered alongside a church in Romania to serve with them for a week. However, we quickly learned that life does not always go according to plan, and we suddenly found ourselves cutting the trip short, rushing to get back to the United States.

Due to the new coronavirus, we were caught in the middle of a pandemic halfway across the world.

COVID-19 forced everyone to acclimate to a new way of living. Though people were learning how to deal with the lack of food and toilet paper in grocery stores, one of the more notable effects of the coronavirus was all the restrictions suddenly put in place. Things such as mask mandates, remaining 6 feet apart and maximum capacity were all new terms that families, businesses and organizations had to adjust to.

However, fast-forward to 2022, two years after the initial strike of the pandemic, and the question that looms in everyone’s mind is, “Are these restrictions still necessary?”

President Biden recently declared the end of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Initially, the U.S.’s fluctuating rates in positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths made states wary of lifting their COVID-19 restrictions. However, according to data compiled by The New York Times, over 30 states are seeing substantial decreases in COVID-19 cases.

The U.S. is not the only country experiencing this decline in cases. Research from the University of Minnesota with the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy shows that continents like Africa and Europe are beginning to see a hopeful decline in their positive cases and death count.

With the threat of the coronavirus coming to an end, all restrictions must be as well. 

Employees should have the right to decide whether the COVID-19 vaccine is right for them. Businesses mandating the vaccination of their employees place themselves at a disadvantage. According to research done by CNBC, 5% of unvaccinated employees have quit their jobs due to the mandates, and an additional number have been terminated or suspended for lack of compliance. 

There is much strife over President Biden’s vaccine mandates, which caused the termination of hundreds of health care workers, and many more have resigned of their own accord, according to ABC News.

There is no perfect time to lift mask and vaccine mandates and other related regulations. President Biden has announced that the coronavirus is no longer a threat, and he now needs to proceed in eliminating existing regulations surrounding the virus. 

When businesses return to running at full capacity, it allows the organization to flourish once again in a post-COVID world. The CDC lifting the mask mandate in airports was an important step toward a return to normalcy. It promoted more travel and ultimately increased business for airlines.

In 2020, the world was brutally introduced to a new and frightening thing called the coronavirus.

Mandates and restrictions were instantly put in place for the sake of protecting communities. At the time, the restrictions were a fundamental way of slowing the spread of the virus. Now, however, the restrictions have become a hindrance to growing businesses and communities, both economically and relationally, and they are beginning to negatively impact the workforce.

When I left the United States in the spring of 2020, I was not prepared for how vastly different the world would look when I returned. Two years later, it is now time to return to the pre-pandemic world.

Daniel is an opinion writer for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on Twitter