As the United States government constantly adjusts coronavirus guidelines, California’s officials have made public policies, especially mandatory mask updates like the one enacted by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, confusing and inconsistent. 

Mayor London Breed announced that vaccinated people will be exempt from wearing a mask in “most indoor settings” Feb. 9. Restaurants, gyms, and offices will no longer require masks for the vaccinated beginning Feb. 16, while those who are unvaccinated must continue donning theirs according to KRON 4. 

Though Mayor Breed’s updated mandate may suggest a progressive turn in the pandemic-induced climate, similar announcements were also made six months ago Jun. 15, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Sounds familiar?

What can be said about the coronavirus that hasn’t already been said. 

We’ve spent two years trying to keep the virus out of our bodies, but that hasn’t stopped it from infecting our brains and daily lives—especially with the ongoing mask regulations. 

It’s constantly on our minds: we’re still wearing masks, still social distancing, still testing and quarantining. And it leaves the question, what else is there to do? 

Furthermore, the lack of clear and concise guidance from the CDC is only causing confusion. 

We were told to quarantine for 10 days, but then it was changed to 5. If you were negative but still exposed you should still quarantine, but also since you were negative, it didn’t matter. 

These inconsistencies take a toll on people and result in more reckless and inconsiderate behavior. For example, a restaurant in Cape Cod gave its employees a mental health break after having to deal with too many unruly customers who refused to follow certain coronavirus protocols according to the New York Times. 

While for the most part, the Omnicron variant has become more mild for high risk groups, as well as the rest of the population, it is important that the CDC puts more effort into providing better and more clear safety instructions to the public, to avoid potential chaos and confusion.

The CDC’s broad and vague statements such as “stop the spread,” often leads to confusion over what specific protocols to follow, especially with how rapidly those guidelines have been altered in the past few months.

If there’s one thing people need right now, after everything that’s happened since the start of this ordeal in Mar. 2020 it’s proper guidance and assurances that are still failing to be provided.