Philly's mask mandate is back, but it's got little to do with COVID

The time for performative disease prevention is over

The Philly Phanatic.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

I can remember when I assumed the pandemic would end.

It was around a year ago. I had just received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and my wife had just gotten her second shot of Moderna. My daughter was finally back in school after a year spent languishing in remote classes. It felt like we were turning a corner as a country, with the horrific rates of death over the winter of 2021 receding into the past. We weren't out of the woods yet, but we would be soon.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.