Changing your thinking about COVID-19 rules

Masks on, masks off. Schools close, then open, then close and then open again. Is proof of vaccination required to go to a concert or not? Have the requirements for travel changed again? If so, what are they now? The COVID-19 pandemic has been a time of constantly changing rules and policies, and so much change is, understandably, frustrating. But as the number of confirmed deaths in the U.S. approaches 1 million, it’s important to remember that this is a public health crisis like no other.

“Typically, meaningful changes to federal health policy happen at a glacial pace,” explains Michael Williams, a University of Virginia physician and health policy expert. “But the modern world has never faced a public health crisis that has changed as quickly as the pandemic.”

Contending with the coronavirus, he says, is more like what happens with a hurricane.

Responses can differ from place to place, actions must be quick enough to match the speed of changing conditions, and as these conditions shift, so too must the tools and rules employed. Despite how it may appear, adjustments to COVID-19 policies aren’t a sign that officials or scientists are getting things wrong and backpedaling, Williams writes: “Rather, they show that for the most part, policymakers are getting things right over and over again.”

This week we also liked articles about climate change, an ornate guidebook on managing medieval households and whether Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine.

And with the start of Ramadan, here are six questions answered about this Muslim holy month. To learn more about Islam, see our special series Understanding Islam.