These must be strange times for the virus hysterics among us. The propaganda machine is still plugged in and churning out verbiage. Maybe it’s not quite as loud or insistent as it was before, maybe it has little more of an auto-generated feel, but the messaging is there for anyone who wants it:

There’s a new scary subvariant!

The Fall wave is coming!

The hospitals are filling up!

More and more, though, all this feels like a radio playing in an empty room. If Fall infections are such a problem and packed indoor spaces are so dangerous, why did they let Oktoberfest happen? If masks are so important, why did Germany drop the requirement in airplanes? (And why do we still have to wear them on trains?) Even worse for the true believers, every time one of these dumb rules is retired, it’s an occasion for celebration.

To everyone who spent the last years believing that masking and hiding at home and constantly testing were the only ways to lead a minimally decent moral life – sorry about that. Joke’s on you.