29 Comments - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:35 pm: Generally yes, I am hopeful things will get better. That’s partly because I don’t know if things have ever been worse in my lifetime. I think we’ve hit bottom, and the ivermectin craze is an example that we can’t sink much lower. Please don’t prove me wrong people. - ;) - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:39 pm: Nope, not with these folks at the helm, the anti-vaxxers, and the return of students, fall sporting events, and the holiday season all at once. - SWIL_Voter - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:40 pm: No, too much of this country is too far gone to rise to any occasion for collective good. As the climate continues to spiral, our institutions are fully incapable of providing even minimally competent responses to any number of hair on fire emergencies, and it will only get worse. Republicans seem pretty intent on using Congress and the courts to ensure no Democrat is ever allowed to become President again, and Democrats don’t seem too worried about it. - Bruce( no not him) - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:41 pm: Short term future? Not so much Long term? It’s gotta get better, right?? (Snark I hope) - Give Me A Break - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:43 pm: I am. The anti mask anti vaccine gang is going to burn themselves out in the near future. We are now seeing HS sports impacted and games cancelled, business groups are supporting masking and more employers are requiring vaccines. Courts continue to rule against the rantings of the few who seem to dominate the news. When mom and pop explain to their kids they can’t do sports, local stores and dining establishments fear other lockdown and parents realize home schooling is in their future without the virus being controlled, the vocal anti everything gang is going to find themselves isolated and outcast from their community. - getthevax - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:43 pm: Not for a while. It’s clear that nothing will convince a too large portion of our state’s citizens to voluntarily get vaccinated. Outbreaks are growing at schools that have just started back and we’ll be lucky to get a vaccine for 5-11 year olds by October. So, more kids will catch it and take it home. I don’t believe the mask mandate will help much. Restaurants, bars and social gatherings will continue to spread the virus. This is going to get worse before it gets better. - Solid no - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:54 pm: No not at all. Even when a vaccine was not available I saw families and parents encourage travel sports with their kids at the height of 2020 fall/summer. That was a sign to me that people make up their own relative standards and implement as little change as possible. - Oxfordian - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:54 pm: Current situation is the worst I’ve seen in my lifetime: societal unrest, partisanship, inability to engage in civil discourse, pride in ignorance, unwillingness to sacrifice for the betterment of society and the planet (climate change). I’ve never been much of an optimist anyway, but if I don’t at least try to be hopeful, it makes the days much harder to get through. - Bourbon Street - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 3:56 pm: Yes, I am hopeful, but I don’t anticipate things will get much better until children under the age of 12 qualify for a COVID 19 vaccine. I also see the tides turning against anti-mask/anti-vaxxers as it appears that all lot of people support employers who mandate vaccinations for their employees and venues who require proof of vaccination for entry. - OneMan - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:02 pm: In the bigger scheme of things, yeah I am. Being hopeful beats the heck out of the alternative. - Fairycat - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:06 pm: I had a glimmer of hope earlier this summer. I was even planning a little fall travel, thinking I would be safe fully vaccinated. I am cancelling my plans again–I don’t want to be a breakthrough case, and I don’t trust there will be care for me if I need to seek medical help. I think we will be back to remote work and remote learning in October. - Pundent - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:12 pm: I’m not particularly hopeful currently. And that’s largely because we still have too many people that can’t or won’t be led to do the right thing. And sadly the rest of us will continue to pay the price. I think we’ve exhausted most remedies from the various levels of government. Any of the positive steps we might take to put this behind us are undermined by leaders encouraging the anti-mask and anti-vax crowd for their short term political benefit. I see no signs of that changing. To the extent that I am optimistic is because I’ve seen more organizations recently speak out in favor of vaccine mandates. Whether that’s the IFT, IMA, Retail Industry, or Chamber of Commerce, it’s probably our best path out of this. I’d feel a lot better if I saw more movement towards mandates. - JDuc - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:28 pm: Kids are playing sports, have a few trips planned, “in-person” school is happening, business is brutal -but still working. Don’t really think things will get better, but we were on that trajectory before the virus. Gonna just take it one day at a time. Keep the head down, stay safe with family and ride it out. - Wensicia - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:39 pm: I’m not hopeful about the near future. It depends upon how the schools will handle increases in COVID-19 among children. Once they can receive vaccines and more places mandate vaccinated status, I think things will improve, maybe by spring. But watch out for future variants and get those booster shots. - Stu - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:49 pm: I sure hope we are at the peak. We have topped the April surge numbers for ICU & vent usage. - Blue Dog - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:53 pm: Between those vaccinated and those acquiring antibodies by being exposed, we will reach herd immunity soon. I hope. - Lt Guv - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:54 pm: No. Far too many anti-vax, anti-mask, MAGA maniacs out there. They’re selfishly , foolishly & obstinatly jacking things up for everyone else. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 4:57 pm: Always hopeful, those old, angry white folks are trying to sell despair, but feeling hope is like standing up against the bad Technically how I feel hope is more about a feeling and resolve one has, as hope is a want, measured differently and seen differently to its own end. - JS Mill - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 6:21 pm: No. we are divided more than we have been since the period preceding the civil war. Our two party system is broken beyond repair with the overwhelming majority of one party enthusiastically worshiping a wannabe despot and gleefully accepting obvious lies. - RNUG - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 7:40 pm: comment - RNUG - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 7:41 pm: Guess my dark vision earlier today got caught by the auto-censor filter - RNUG - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 7:48 pm: To rephrase: I see living with covid for the foreseeable future I see a media that likely will never be mostly objective again I see a recession in about 5 years Can’t change it, so I’ll just keep keep playing with the grandkids and cars - Downstate Dem - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 7:58 pm: I was hopeful about the future until I saw that there are breakthrough COVID cases that end with hospitalization and/or death. I thought I was being very careful, but I was stricken with COVID before the vaccines were available. Even after being vaccinated, I am fearful. - zatoichi - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 8:22 pm: Hopefully more anti-mask/vaxers will increasingly just give in. The effort to maintain the cause will become significant as mandates come from employers, schools, health insurance coverage, hassle of home schooling, canceled sports, and data on vaxed vs unvaxed deaths. - Norseman - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 8:50 pm: It’s hard to be hopeful when you have one of our two-parties actively taking action to damage our public health system. Centuries of proven health practices are being falsely discredited and reversed in GOP states because of partisan malice and general ignorance. People dedicated to saving lives are vilified, losing their jobs and physically threatened. I could go on about the political milieu in general and the threat to our democracy, but I’m too depressed to even think about it anymore. - From DaZoo - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 9:26 pm: I was hopeful until I saw the numbers going up the past five weeks. Now I’m trying to be hopeful that we will be peaking the current wave within the next 5-10 days and dropping by early November. But as others have said, I’m anxious what the holiday season will bring. - thoughts matter - Tuesday, Aug 31, 21 @ 10:17 pm: No. Not about Covid and not about much else for our country either. The greatest generation sacrificed much for us. People went to war, those that stayed home gave up a lot. Rations, etc. The rest of us won’t even get a vaccine to save their lives. Our nation’s capital was overrun for the first time since 1812. Half the country doesn’t see it as a problem. Those are the same people that would believe the sky was purple if they read it on a website or heard it on the radio. No idea how we get our country back. - Mama - Wednesday, Sep 1, 21 @ 12:04 am: If we can get more pro-health people ‘Dems’ elected to the US Congress, we might have a chance to turn things around. - Peanut - Wednesday, Sep 1, 21 @ 8:30 am: no, not until mayors (Springfield) start requiring businesses to enforce mask wearing in their business/stores or get cited. also more employers should require vaccinations or testing and masking. some antivaxxers are tracking those business that don’t enforce & sharing that info. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.