Companies revert to more normal operations as COVID-19 cases wane

>> YOU'RE WATCHING WCVB NEWSCENTERE FIV AT 5:30. >> COVID-19 CASES ARE DECLINING THIS WEEK IN ALL BUT ONE OF THE 50 STATES. HERE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESONS ISTI DR. ALI RAJA, THE EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIR FOR EMERGENCY MEDICI ANET MASS GENERAL HOSPIL. >> THAT'S OBVIOUSLY ENCOURAGING NEWS FOR EVERYONE EXCEPT MAYBE RESIDENTS OF ALABAMA, WHICH IS THE ONLY STATE SEEING NUMBERS INCREASE. SO AT LEAST AROUND HERE, WHEN WILL YOU BE READY TO SAY, THE CRISIS IS OVER? AND IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON?. >> THAT'S GREATA QUESTION. I LOVE THAT CASES AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE GNGOI DOWN RIGHT NOW, BUT WE CAN'T JUST LOOK AT CASE COUNTS. WE'VE ALSO GOT TO LOOK AT TRANSMSIISON AND HOSPITALIZATION RATES AND UNFORTUNATELY, THE CDC ILSTL YSSA THAT 99% OF THE COUNTRY STILL HAS HIGH RATES OF TRANSMISSI AONND OUR HOSPITALIZATION RATES WHILE THEY'RE COMING DOWN, THEY'RE STILL JUST AS HHIG AS THEY WERE DUNG THERI PEAK IN 2021. SO WE'VE STILL GOT A WSAY TO GO, BUT WE'RE DEFINITELY HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. >> LET'S TALK ABOUT THE VACCINATION RATES. ONE GROUP THAT'S LAGGING BEHIND IS KIDS AGE FIVE TO 11 WHY DO I THINK THEY'RE HESITATING? >> WE'VE GOT TWO SONS IN THAT AGE GROUP AND ONLY HALF OF KIDS BETWEEN 5-11 ARE VACCINATED IN THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. THAT'S BETTER THAN THE 30% NATIONALLY, BUT IT'S STILL NOT HIGH. I THINK IT'S BECAUSE OF A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT'S OUT THERE ON THE INTERNET, A LOT OF MISINFORMATION SOMETIMES. AND A LOT OF VALID CONCERNS BY PARENTS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE REALLY CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT THEY PUT INTO THEIR KIDS, BUT I'VE GOT TO TELL YOU, WE VACCINATED OUR KIDS THE FIRST DAY WE COULD AND WHAT I ALSO TELL PARENTS AND FRIENDS IS THAT LOOK, YOU'VE TRUSTED YOUR PEDIATRICIAN TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR KIDS THEY'RE ENRETI LIVES. TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT AND I BET YOU THEY'RE GOING TO TELL YOU YOUHOULD S VACCINATE YOUR KIDS. >> I WANT GTOET TO THESE QUESTIONS FROM VIEWERS. THE FIRST ONE IS FR SOMUE. WHY DO KIDS GET COVID SHOTS BASED ON THEIR AGE INSTEAD OF THEIR WEIGHT? IT MAKES NO SENSE. BUT THERE'S MORE AT PYLA HERE RIGHT? >> I TOTALLYET G IT. WE BASE A LOT OF MEDICATIONS FOR KIDS ON THEIR WEIGHT. WHEN YOUET G PRESCRIBED ANTIBIOTICS FOR YOUR KID'SAR E INFECTION, IT'S BASEDN O THEIR WEIGHT BUT WITH VACCINES, WE'RE NOT GIVING ARU DG THAT YOUR BODY DOESN'MAT KE MORE OF. WITH VACCINES WE'RE PROMPTING YOUR BODY'S OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM TO MAKE THE RIGHT AMOTUN OF ANTIBODIES FOR YOUR SIZE AND THAT'S DEPENDENT ONOW H ADVANCED YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM IS WHICH DEPENDS ON AGE, NOT ON SE.IZ >> THAT'S A GREAT DISTINCTION. THIS IS ANOTHER QUESTION FROM LUCAS. DO COVID TESTS STILLOR WK IF THEY'VE BEEN LEFT IN THE COLD? >> I CAN'TMA IGINE WHY LUCAS MIGHT ASK THAT ISTH WEEKEND. BUT THE SHORT ANSWER IS YES, THE TESTS SHOULD WORK JUST FINE. THE MANUFACTURERS HAVE TESTED THEM AMONG ALL STSOR OF SHIPPGIN CONDITIONS, BUT WHAT THEY ALSO TELL US IS THAT WE HAVE IT TO LET THEM WARM UP TO ROOM TEMPERATURE ON THEIR OWN BEFORE USING THEM. DON'T TRY TO WARM THEM UP. LET THEM WARM UP ON THEIR OWN AND THEN YOU CAN USE THEM. >> GREAT ADVICE, THANK YOU SO MUCH. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. >> IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR ONE OF OUR INFTIOUECS DIASESE EXPERTS, SEND IT IN TO ASK@WCVB.COM. DAN WE'LL GET TO AS MANAS W

For the first time in two years for many people, the American workplace is transforming into something that resembles pre-pandemic days.Tyson Foods said Tuesday it was ending mask requirements for its vaccinated workers in some facilities. Walmart and Amazon — the nation's No. 1 and 2 largest private employers respectively — will no longer require fully vaccinated workers to don masks in stores or warehouses unless required under local or state laws. Tech companies like Microsoft and Facebook that had allowed employees to work fully remote are now setting mandatory dates to return to the office after a series of fits and starts. "There has been a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases across the country over the past weeks," Amazon told workers in a memo. "Along with increasing vaccination rates across the country, this is a positive sign we can return to the path to normal operations."Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, on Monday announced plans to open its West Coast buildings on Feb. 28 with a hybrid mix of working in the office and home. Facebook parent Meta Platforms, which had planned to bring workers back to the office on Jan. 31, will now require them to return — with proof of a booster shot — on March 28. That's a stark reversal from just weeks ago when the omicron variant of COVID-19 was peaking, prompting companies to double-down on mask requirements and enforce daily health screenings while delaying return-to-office plans for remote workers. The U.S. has since seen COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations plummet. Cases have plunged from 455,000 a day two weeks ago to 150,000 on Monday. COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen 45% from the peak one month ago and are now at levels similar to when the country was coming out of the delta variant surge in September. And nearly 65% of Americans are fully vaccinated.Tracking COVID-19:Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy can help protect baby, new CDC study suggests Here's what you do if you've lost your vaccine cardPace of Americans getting COVID-19 boosters at all-time low, analysis finds "I think we are in a much better place than we were six months ago, or a year ago," said Jeff Levin-Scherz, an executive in the health practice of consulting firm Willis Towers Watson. "We are somewhat better protected than we were at any point in the past. But the new normal isn't going to be the old normal. It will be somewhat different. "Many office workers will still be required to wear masks in the office and get regularly tested. Front-line workers like store clerks and restaurant staff who were already physically going to work will have to adjust to maskless colleagues and customers — whether they like it or not. Then there are the old realities of their pre-pandemic routines: dealing with rush-hour commuter traffic, putting on dressier clothes again and working alongside co-workers for the first time in two years.Megan Chichester, a 48-year-old graphic artist who works at a packaging company in De Soto, Kansas, received notice that she will have to return to the office in April. She has only stopped in the office a couple times since the pandemic began."I'm excited to see people in person because I have missed them," she said. "But then on the other side, it's also a little strange because I'm so used to not being around people that there's a little bit of anxiety about it."Adding to the anxiety is the fact that she has seen return-to-office dates scuttled repeatedly over the past couple years when cases surged. "It's kind of like you're getting whiplash because you don't know what month you're really returning," she said.Several states, including New York and New Jersey, have retreated from some of their own restrictions as their case counts decline but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not yet ready to tell everyone to take off their masks.Many businesses — small and large — are figuring out what's best for them based on the attitudes of their customers and workers.JPMorgan, which started requiring workers to return to the office in some form in early February, said that masking is now voluntary for employees who are fully vaccinated, except for those in cities or localities that still require it; unvaccinated workers will still need to wear a mask. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley announced a similar policy in their U.S. offices.Brian Anderson, marketing manager at a supplement store outside of Chicago, said they've been under a state mask mandate since last August. But as soon as Illinois lifts the mandate Feb. 28, they won't require customers to wear masks. "Our customer base is more fitness-focused and definitely not mask wearers," he said. Store workers can wear a mask, but it won't be required.By contrast, Jeff Moriarty, co-owner of Moriarty's Gem Art in Indiana, says they'll continue to ask customers to wear masks even though there hasn't been a mandate in his state since 2021. His business provides masks and hand sanitizers at the entrance."The reason behind this is because we do have older associates working in our store, and our owners are over the age of 65," he said. "We understand that some customers will choose not to wear masks, but we will continue to have it as a recommendation option."Companies that have imposed their own vaccination requirements for staff also must navigate the changing dynamics surrounding the virus.The Supreme Court last month knocked down a federal nationwide workplace mandate but companies are allowed to maintain their own requirements and many are keeping them in place. Others, like Starbucks, have decided to eliminate their mandate in the aftermath of the high court ruling.Peter Naughton, a 46-year-old who works at the Walmart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said most workers are worried about the mask requirement going away. He plans to keep wearing his mask because it protects him and other people."It's not over. It's still here. It's going to be here for a while," Naughton said of the pandemic. "So we need to, you know, take precautions ...You never know if another variant is coming, which is very possible."

NEW YORK —

For the first time in two years for many people, the American workplace is transforming into something that resembles pre-pandemic days.

Tyson Foods said Tuesday it was ending mask requirements for its vaccinated workers in some facilities. Walmart and Amazon — the nation's No. 1 and 2 largest private employers respectively — will no longer require fully vaccinated workers to don masks in stores or warehouses unless required under local or state laws. Tech companies like Microsoft and Facebook that had allowed employees to work fully remote are now setting mandatory dates to return to the office after a series of fits and starts.

"There has been a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases across the country over the past weeks," Amazon told workers in a memo. "Along with increasing vaccination rates across the country, this is a positive sign we can return to the path to normal operations."

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, on Monday announced plans to open its West Coast buildings on Feb. 28 with a hybrid mix of working in the office and home. Facebook parent Meta Platforms, which had planned to bring workers back to the office on Jan. 31, will now require them to return — with proof of a booster shot — on March 28.

That's a stark reversal from just weeks ago when the omicron variant of COVID-19 was peaking, prompting companies to double-down on mask requirements and enforce daily health screenings while delaying return-to-office plans for remote workers.

The U.S. has since seen COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations plummet. Cases have plunged from 455,000 a day two weeks ago to 150,000 on Monday. COVID-19 hospitalizations have fallen 45% from the peak one month ago and are now at levels similar to when the country was coming out of the delta variant surge in September. And nearly 65% of Americans are fully vaccinated.

Tracking COVID-19:

"I think we are in a much better place than we were six months ago, or a year ago," said Jeff Levin-Scherz, an executive in the health practice of consulting firm Willis Towers Watson. "We are somewhat better protected than we were at any point in the past. But the new normal isn't going to be the old normal. It will be somewhat different. "

Many office workers will still be required to wear masks in the office and get regularly tested. Front-line workers like store clerks and restaurant staff who were already physically going to work will have to adjust to maskless colleagues and customers — whether they like it or not.

Then there are the old realities of their pre-pandemic routines: dealing with rush-hour commuter traffic, putting on dressier clothes again and working alongside co-workers for the first time in two years.

Megan Chichester, a 48-year-old graphic artist who works at a packaging company in De Soto, Kansas, received notice that she will have to return to the office in April. She has only stopped in the office a couple times since the pandemic began.

"I'm excited to see people in person because I have missed them," she said. "But then on the other side, it's also a little strange because I'm so used to not being around people that there's a little bit of anxiety about it."

Adding to the anxiety is the fact that she has seen return-to-office dates scuttled repeatedly over the past couple years when cases surged.

"It's kind of like you're getting whiplash because you don't know what month you're really returning," she said.

Several states, including New York and New Jersey, have retreated from some of their own restrictions as their case counts decline but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not yet ready to tell everyone to take off their masks.

Many businesses — small and large — are figuring out what's best for them based on the attitudes of their customers and workers.

JPMorgan, which started requiring workers to return to the office in some form in early February, said that masking is now voluntary for employees who are fully vaccinated, except for those in cities or localities that still require it; unvaccinated workers will still need to wear a mask. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley announced a similar policy in their U.S. offices.

Brian Anderson, marketing manager at a supplement store outside of Chicago, said they've been under a state mask mandate since last August. But as soon as Illinois lifts the mandate Feb. 28, they won't require customers to wear masks.

"Our customer base is more fitness-focused and definitely not mask wearers," he said. Store workers can wear a mask, but it won't be required.

By contrast, Jeff Moriarty, co-owner of Moriarty's Gem Art in Indiana, says they'll continue to ask customers to wear masks even though there hasn't been a mandate in his state since 2021. His business provides masks and hand sanitizers at the entrance.

"The reason behind this is because we do have older associates working in our store, and our owners are over the age of 65," he said. "We understand that some customers will choose not to wear masks, but we will continue to have it as a recommendation option."

Companies that have imposed their own vaccination requirements for staff also must navigate the changing dynamics surrounding the virus.

The Supreme Court last month knocked down a federal nationwide workplace mandate but companies are allowed to maintain their own requirements and many are keeping them in place. Others, like Starbucks, have decided to eliminate their mandate in the aftermath of the high court ruling.

Peter Naughton, a 46-year-old who works at the Walmart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said most workers are worried about the mask requirement going away. He plans to keep wearing his mask because it protects him and other people.

"It's not over. It's still here. It's going to be here for a while," Naughton said of the pandemic. "So we need to, you know, take precautions ...You never know if another variant is coming, which is very possible."

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