There are some worrisome indicators: Lionsgate movie studios in Los Angeles and Atlanta-based Morris Brown College say they are reinstating mask mandates, social distancing, and contact tracing. We’ve noted before that nearly 100 colleges are requiring masks this fall.

There is a revival of pandemic-era headlines about new wave and new variants.

But there’s a lot of fear-mongering going on here. Circulating variants continue to be very mild, making even the slight uptick in hospital census deceptive. Massachusetts reports that 70 percent of its “COVID hospitalizations” are incidental.

And various tracking data suggests the mini-wave may have already peaked.

But another round of lockdowns and mandates can’t be completely ruled out – especially if we have a harsh respiratory season this winter. Why? Because the people who imposed these catastrophic policies have still not admitted they were wrong:

That’s why we at the Hotline will continue to hammer away at the catastrophe of lockdowns until the lessons are truly learned.