Why New Jerseyans are panicking over the Delta variant (Opinion)

We don’t even have an indoor mask mandate here in NJ (yet), and every day I see more and more masks on people.

The government and the mainstream media‘s attempt to freak people out over the Delta variant has been successful. Putting my opinions aside, it’s my observation that people are somehow more afraid now than they were before.

Perhaps the reason is the idea of a second “wave,” the variant of which is highly transmissible, allows people to believe that this COVID-19 nightmare will be around forever. And, if you believe that it’s as deadly as the media wants you to think, that’s a scary thought.

I really believe, at least from what I have witnessed here in New Jersey, that people think the world is-figuratively-coming to an end, and there will be a virus hanging over our heads for the rest of our lives.

I have seen New Jerseyans doing things that are even more extreme in the past few days in New Jersey then they did during our first dance with COVID-19. The other day, I walked into a CVS where a man was standing 20 feet behind the cash register while another customer was being rung up. I assume that guy was standing around waiting for his wife or his kid. So I stood a respectable distance behind the customer at the register to wait my turn to pay.

The man who was 20 feet away yelled at me that I had stood in front of him in line. I looked around to make sure that he was talking to me, because he was so far from the register it seemed inconceivable that he could be waiting.

Several other people made the same mistake I did and began to form a line in front of this man. When he informed them that he was in line, each of the others proceeded to wait 20 feet apart from him. I saw a similar scene at a local convenience store.

Is 20 feet the new social distancing measure? Or are people just getting hysterical all over again, only this time even worse?

I’ve also seen people double and triple masking. And this time, there is a fear in people‘s eyes that I haven’t seen since last April.

Again, this time it’s worse because, as I mentioned, the constant fear mongering is implanting the idea in the back of peoples minds that we will spend the rest of our lives—indefinitely—just one socially distant space away from death.

In their quest for compliance by instilling fear, the government and the media have succeeded—at least here in New Jersey.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.