As masks return, COVID fatigue may affect San Diegans’ behavior

We all may be experiencing an unfortunate form of déjà vu, one that may prove a test of our resolve and resistance to COVID fatigue.

Amid rising case rates, a new variant and people preparing to gather and travel for the holidays, California reinstated a rule Wednesday requiring all people to wear masks in public indoor locations regardless of vaccination status.

The rule is expected to remain in effect until Jan. 15. But California will also require people attending events with more than 1,000 attendees to submit a negative COVID test if they do not have proof of vaccination, and health officials are encouraging tourists and residents who travel out of the state to test for COVID within three to five days of their arrival or return.

“We know people are tired and hungry for normalcy. Frankly, I am too,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said on a call with a pool of reporters Monday. “That said, this is a critical time where we have a tool that we know has worked and can work.”

The return of a mask mandate has, unsurprisingly, been met with reluctance and criticism from groups of people who, throughout the pandemic, have lamented wearing a mask or getting vaccinated.

I don’t think they’re worth spending time on, but I am interested in watching how the rest of our community will respond.

There are plenty of folks in San Diego and beyond — in fact it’s the majority of the country — who have embraced doing what is necessary to protect the public health, whether that means getting the jab, wearing a mask or accepting other public health orders and recommendations.

For example, about 80 percent of San Diegans, some 2.4 million people, are fully vaccinated, according to a county health and Human Services report earlier