“

CORONAVIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW We outweigh the risks of our situation for other goals, health benefits of connection, and normal routine. It can make people vulnerable to suggestions to bend COVID-19 safety guidelines, she said. We initially may have been fearful, but as we start to gain control we become more confident to confront situations that may have scared us. As a result, as the pandemic continues, some of us have adjusted and started to underestimate the actual threat, ignore situational hazards, and dont take COVID-19 risks as seriously. Speaking to Fox News, Dr. Collin Reiff, a psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health, likened caution fatigue to swimming in the ocean. People go swimming in the ocean, a potentially dangerous place, and dont take flotation devices with them. If you dont see anyone drown, you feel fine doing it, he said. But if we hear that 100,000 people died [while swimming in the ocean], and 180,000 could drown by October, you would see more people wearing a flotation device, he said, referringto a recent report that U.S. coronavirus deaths are projected to reach 180,000 by the beginning of October unless the majority of people start wearing face masks. Reiff also hypothesized that cognitive dissonance might play a part in those who find themselves having a more lax attitude toward recommended safety precautions. Experts still recommend safety precautions such as practicing social distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing a face covering while in public. (iStock) I think some of it is fatigue, but I think another part of it is that a lot of people havent been [as directly] impacted by the novel coronavirus, he said, noting that the virus had a more direct impact on those living in cities that were hit hard at the start of the pandemic, such as New York City and Philadelphia. CORONAVIRUS INFECTS 60 UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS STUDENTS ON SPRING BREAK TRIP TO MEXICO It may not be so much fatigue but their experience with COVID [the precautions] are not convenient for me any longer.