There seems to be a stubborn sector of our officialdom desperately seeking to prolong our latent fear of that virus from you-know-where and extend government’s Covid controls. The latest is that evil D.V. (Delta Variant).

Well, good news. Perhaps you’ve noticed at the convenience store, in the post office, the break room. That pathetic effort of restoring government controls is failing. Crumbling might be a better word for it.

Understandably, a year ago in the face of so many unknowns and inchoate fears combined with confusing government directions (Two weeks to flatten the curve 68 weeks ago), Americans were ready – almost eager – to believe any warning, take any precaution to avoid possible exposure to an invisible you-know-what from you-know-where. And media fed this panic porn with death toll headlines that seemed a little too happy.

I was walking out of a post office one morning back then with a large, newly-received parcel when an elderly woman, her eyes wide with fear, flattened herself against the wall and yelled, “It can live on surfaces for 48 hours!”

“Well, then,” I screamed, “You take it!” And threw the box at her. No, just kidding. It was expensive pet food.

Well, poof, now that the election is over and we have a youthful, vital leader in the White House with a trillion fresh new reasons to print more money, America’s attitude has changed drastically.

And Gallup has the proof.

A new random survey of 4,843 adult Americans found a substantial majority reported their socializing is completely back to normal.

A tiny fearful fraction of five percent say they continue to completely isolate themselves from non-household members. Last year, that figure got as high as 75 percent.

But by late winter, as Donald Trump’s rushed vaccine moved into more national circulation that figure had fallen to 38 percent. By May, it had plummeted further to 22 percent.

Another 13 percent now claim they’re “mostly” self-isolating. Which explains why I haven’t seen any of them.

Revealing too is that nearly half of those in Gallup’s June monthly tracking survey (47 percent) reported that in the previous day they had made “no attempt whatsoever” to isolate themselves from non-household members.

At the same time, U.S. workers employed full or part-time say work is completely back to normal for them (49 percent), while the other half (51 percent) aren’t so sure. They say, No, it isn’t.

Slightly more than half of parents with children under 18 (51 percent) say their childrearing routine is back to normal, but only 34 percent say that about school.

Other lifetime routines are also moving strongly back toward normal: Socializing (59 percent), Shopping (52 percent), Dining out (45 percent), Personal finances (49 percent), Exercising (39 percent).

Gallup also reported:

While differences persist in what Americans are willing to do, all of these precautionary behaviors have fallen substantially over the past few months after solid majorities of Americans had practiced them for much of the past year.

At the same time, however, significantly larger proportions of people have decided to continue avoiding events with large crowds (39 percent) and traveling by air, bus, subway, or train (35 percent). Can you say, No more empty middle seats?

In May, a number of major media outlets, including RedState, had raised serious questions about the efficacy of mask-wearing. By the middle of that month, federal disease officials announced that fully vaccinated folks need not wear masks anymore. And numerous states and municipalities followed suit.

Boom, seven percent stopped right away and another 11 percent in June.

The 24 percent of Americans in the recent survey who said they have no intention of being vaccinated show greater comfort with a return to normal life and routines. Three-quarters of them say their lives have returned to normal in terms of socializing, compared with 55 percent of those with tiny holes in their arms.

Gallup added, “Similar gaps are seen for most of the activities rated, underscoring nonvaccinated adults’ general comfort with rebuffing Covid-19 precautions.”

All of this should be useful information for any faux Faucis who might suggest a return to masks and six-foot separation.