Reopening risks

Another wave is not outside the realm of possibility

As businesses fete the return to normalcy after two years of lockdowns of varying severity, experience suggests that the rapid departure from minimum safety precautions in public places, such as masking and social distancing, could be risky. The reopening of offices, schools, malls, and cinema halls, and the reversal of restrictions on numbers in public transport and at gatherings such as weddings have been influenced by two factors. The first is the sharp decline in the number of daily cases from a high of 347,000 in late January, the peak of the third wave, to about 5,000 cases now. This