COVID cases keep dropping in Wisconsin. But CDC guidance better not lead to complacency

In the last week before the CDC said that vaccinated Americans could go maskless if they choose to, Wisconsin saw a notable decline in new COVID cases. It dropped from just below 4,000 to just above 3,100, the 4th decline in 5 weeks and the lowest since the optimistic days of mid-March.

However, the bump up in cases from April is still having its effects with elevated deaths. 54 more deaths from COVID were recorded last week, although it was lower than the previous two weeks.

Vaccinations have continued to decline in Wisconsin like much of America, and we still have yet to have 40% of our state's residents complete their vaccination cycle. But a new group of Wisconsinites are now able to get the shots, with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services saying 12,700 12-to-15-year-olds got their first vaccine in the first 3 days they were able to do so. Hopefully that will allow some of those vaccinations numbers to rebound in the next few weeks, and get some of our areas closer to herd immunity.

I find the recent numbers positive, but I worry about the CDC making such a quick turnaround in mask guidance, which I fear will allow unvaccinated people to also feel that they don't have to mask up. So this feels like the last big test to see if we're going to finally crush this thing, or if enough people continue to be unvaccinated and reckless and allow the virus to linger as a cloud over American lives. Check back in a month to see if we're likely to have a safe, non-COVID Summer, or if the jagbags screw it up for the rest of us.