Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Mon Jun 07, 2021 7:18 pm
"It could all come tumbling down" after this "business as usual" holiday weekend. Look for a resulting spike to occur in about another week.
Any such spike could include a "breakthrough" by one of these mutations that are ostensibly only overseas. Overseas is meaningless; think "over here".
I hope we are both mistaken with our thoughts, and that those holdouts will step up and roll 'em up.
Sorry, but I have to disagree a bit, Professor. States like Florida and Texas have been wide open for months now and were supposed to see similar spikes after their "neanderthal policy moves" and those spikes haven't really materialized. Not sure whether that's due to vaccination rates in those areas, or possibly a larger organic population who already had COVID. Either way, it's also not a coincidence there was an uptick in airline traffic to/from the states and other places like Mexico that opened their doors early.
International travel is another story altogether, but that's not a meaningful concern for Amtrak. If anything, the lack of international travel opportunities (aside from Mexico and perhaps the Caribbean) should be shifting some demand to domestic adventures... I know RV sales have been thru the roof two years in a row now, and campgrounds are packed...
STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sat Jun 05, 2021 10:17 pm
Now? We're close, but not there yet. We need the "Everyone can take 'em off!" signal. Right now, out of the CDC, it's mixed.
Mixed messaging from CDC is an understatement. I don't think they actually intended to drop the mask mandate for vaccinated... It almost seemed like a mistake worthy of Günter Schabowski's praise.
Regardless, we're almost a month past that change, and the real-time stats continue to drop.
What I think would get more people off their couches and lawn chairs, and back onto trains is dropping mask mandates and removing other government imposed emergency measures (e.g. reduced seating in restaurants, social distancing in elevators, etc.) like what SEPTA has already done.
If the commuter agencies are signaling it's safe to travel, perhaps people might respond accordingly.
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