Why are we in a rush to eliminate restrictions?

Published in El Pais, 4 August 2021.

As COVID cases start to drop, areas are starting to eliminate restrictions and return to a life that somewhat resembles what it was like pre pandemic. Understandably this is good news as many are tired of staying at home all the time and want to socialize but some of the restrictions being lifted has led many to scratching their heads and makes me wonder why we are in such a rush to remove all of them.

A province in my country for example has completely returned to normal, no masks, no social distancing, and no crowd restrictions, all despite rising case numbers. On the 16^th of August they are taking it a step further, people who test positive for COVID-19 will no longer have to quarantine, meaning if you are sick with the virus, you are free to go to the supermarket without a mask and risk infecting everyone around you. The argument is that if you are vaccinated you should not worry about getting sick even when exposed to the virus.

Understandably the change in policy has led to swift criticism but it also has me questioning what is the rush to go completely to normal? There is a lot of middle ground between hiding in your home and pretending like the virus does not exist. Even if cases are down and the risk of infection is low, we should keep our guard up as another wave can be devastating to the economy and put us right back where we started. Wearing a mask is an easy way to prevent the spread and there is no harm in wearing it in situations where it may not be necessary, the same cannot be said for the other way around and regardless of the number of cases all covid patients should be forced to quarantine.

I know everyone wants to return to normal and with slight modifications to our everyday life we can but, acting like the pandemic is completely over is reckless and can cause so much damage. We need to be careful as we approach the finish line, or else we will never get there.