Democrats are committing political suicide. Just as our nation was staggering out of Covid Hell, singed but relieved, blue-government officials want to drag us back into the Inferno.  

Americans will not take this well.

The mayor of Philadelphia has reimposed a mask mandate for inside spaces, to start within days, just five weeks after lifting said mandate. President Biden’s Centers for Disease Control has extended required masking for travelers on airplanes and other public transportation through May 3. Mayor Adams recently ruled that little children must continue to wear masks in school.  

What can they be thinking? Do they not understand that Americans are ready to put this ghastly Covid chapter behind us?

A recent Axios/Ipsos poll showed that the vast majority of our country is ready to move on. Fewer than one in 10 respondents consider Covid a “crisis” today; nearly three-quarters of those surveyed say the virus is a problem, but “manageable.”  

Americans are putting money where their mouths are, going back to pre-pandemic activities like eating out and traveling. Planes are packed and good luck booking flights for your summer vacation — everything is filling up.

Meanwhile, according to tracking data from the University of Washington in Seattle, the percentage of Americans routinely wearing masks today has plunged to 23 from 46 at the start of the year and 73 a year ago.  

Americans aren’t crazy. They know that the most recent strain — OmicronBA.2 — is indeed highly contagious, but not deadly. For the vast majority, who have either been vaccinated or have already been infected with Covid-19, getting the new bug means suffering a runny nose or other cold-like symptoms. Unpleasant, yes, but nothing to fear.

For sure, the CDC has tracked a tiny uptick in the seven-day moving average of cases. But, unlike other waves of infection, there has been no subsequent rise in hospitalizations or deaths. The number of deaths has continued to trend lower. Hospitalizations are down 93 percent from January. 

To be sure, hospital admissions and deaths usually lag infections. The virus, though, is getting weaker, thankfully, with each new round. Yes, the elderly and people who have serious health issues should exercise caution, just as they should during flu season. To subject the entire country to measures that have questionable value is absurd.

Even the sainted Dr. Fauci believes “what’s going to happen is that we’re going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take.” 

Democrats are loath to admit it, but Covid outcomes in states like Florida, which imposed few restrictions on movement or masking, performed as well or better than those states that demanded draconian shut-downs. 

As a New Yorker who visits Florida frequently, I can attest that many in the state wore face coverings during the past two years … voluntarily. Older people were masked in the grocery stores and many chose to eat outside instead of in crowded restaurants. 

The Left portrayed the state as unsafe and undisciplined, but neither was true. Governor DeSantis treated Floridians as adults, and they behaved appropriately. Consequently, the economy of his state blossomed compared to New York, where policy makers caused the unnecessary failure of tens of thousands of businesses.

Americans are onto the politics behind the lockdowns. A recent Issues & Insights poll conducted by TIPP showed “nearly two-thirds of registered voters thought decisions about COVID restrictions were driven by politics, not science. Majorities in just about every demographic, political, and ideological group felt this way,” reported I&I. 

In addition, nearly two-thirds of the country thought it was time to lift Covid restrictions. So alarming was this report to the liberal establishment that Google’s AdSense network removed its ads from the article, claiming it contained “dangerous or derogatory content.” Imagine.

Americans are weary. Inflation is eating into their paychecks, the war in Ukraine is a horror and our nation’s president is feckless and incompetent. The White House, reeling under some of the worst polls ever recorded, should welcome the moment to celebrate the decline of Covid, not fight it.