My workplace isn't mounting much of a response to the Delta surge. I'm in a very small minority of employees who are surprised and upset about this laxness. I'd like some outside opinions on whether I'm being unreasonable.
I work for a small business of about 100 people, all based in one location. We're in the northeastern part of the United States. When the Covid pandemic first hit (back in March of 2020), we did everything right. We closed to the public, furloughed some staff, and reduced on-site workers to a skeleton crew. Admin staff (including me) worked from home. We implemented strict rules for masking and sanitizing. To the best of my knowledge, everyone seemed on-board with this.
After everything started re-opening locally, we gradually loosened restrictions and resumed near-normal operations as of mid-May this year. All vaccinated staff and visitors were allowed to forego wearing masks, and most remote workers had to return to the office.
Fast forward to August. Our area is experiencing a new surge of cases (the Delta variant). We're not nearly as bad as some areas in the South, but the trend is in the wrong direction. The CDC classified the county as high transmission, as of August 12. The number of new infections is rising steadily. The seven-day case rate (per 100K) is 131, and the positivity rate is around 5.5%. The official CDC guidelines call for both vaccinated and un-vaccinated people to be masked indoors.
What's bizarre to me is that very few of the staff seem concerned, and the leadership hasn't implemented any restrictions. I am among the few people who wear a mask routinely. There is no requirement for social distancing. Our organization gets a lot of foot traffic from visitors, and we're not requiring masking from them. Officially, un-vaccinated staff and visitors are required to be masked, but this rule is based on the honor system.
I contacted the president and politely asked if we can take the CDC guidelines and make them requirements for our organization. He replied that the CDC guidelines are recommendations, not mandates. I didn't pursue it further, because I have very little clout, and essentially no support behind me.
I'm frankly upset about the nonchalant attitude I get from the vast majority of people here. Aside from being upset, I'm also very surprised by it. If someone had asked me a month ago, I never would have predicted that this would happen in my workplace.
My views put me in the distinct minority at work, but I feel that I'm being the reasonable one. It's a puzzling contradiction. I'm asking for a sanity check, and I'm also interested in how other people's workplaces are responding.
"In the distinct minority"..... GOOOD!
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