Because Rhode Island was doing poorly, (and when those stats were noted, I am not sure what % was Delta, and what % omicron, but omicron must be dominant by now), and because it was believed omicron is more contagious and spreads easier, the fear was/is that an increase in infections caused by a more easily transmissible omicron would/will result is a greater stress on our hospitals. Omicron may be milder, and may not result in an increase of hospitalizations(intrinsically as it were) over what Delta produces, but increased volume of cases alone, due to ease of transmission, would lead to more hospitalizations at a time when that increase would be a huge problem for an overstressed health care system. That is how I Interpret the warnings, warnings both implied by our governor reimposing indoor mask mandates for one month, to be reviewed at the end of that month, and the warnings in the letter from the emergency room physician that the ER ability to handle all this is questionable, and we need to be aware this is the case.
I only stopped wearing masks indoors for a very short time after my second Moderna shot. Then Delta appeared, I went back to indoor masking and social distancing, and did not need the governor’s mask mandate to go back to masking.
But, all of the above is how I understand and interpret what is happening here. And I believe the above was in fact the point of my original comments regarding Covid and RI in late December, 2021, and that you chose to object to. Omicron can be very mild, and we all hope that proves to be the case, but it’s ease of transmission may still overwhelm our system. It simply remains to be seen, and I have understood that all along. I have understood this all along.