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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF\/AP) \u2014 A compromise $10 billion measure buttressing the government\u2019s COVID-19 defenses has stalled in the Senate and seemed all but certainly sidetracked for weeks.<\/p>\n
A leading UC-San Francisco infectious disease expert believes the delay will have a ripple effect in the local efforts to keep the virus at bay. Hospitalizations have fallen, but new cases in several Bay Area counties are among the highest in California.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong>Scammed San Francisco Nonprofit Falls Victim to Costliest Type of Cybercrime<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve kind of taken funding for granted,\u201d said Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. \u201cFor much of the pandemic we\u2019ve had this emergency response. Drugs were free, tests were free, it was all hands on deck. Now with funding sort of stalled and people debating over it, it\u2019s leading to a ripple effect.\u201d<\/p>\n Mask requirements across the Bay Area have been lifted. It was hard to spot a mask among the 40,853 fans who gathered at Oracle Park for Friday\u2019s San Francisco Giant season opener or among the hundreds who milled about the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for its Art Bash fundraiser.<\/p>\n On Friday evening, state health officials lifted their quarantine requirement for asymptomatic individuals who have been exposed to the virus.<\/p>\n While there are concerns of another wave of coronavirus infections due to the BA.2 sub variant, short of another mandate, the push to get vaccinated maybe ending. <\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, if the individuals haven\u2019t gotten vaccines yet, they\u2019re likely not going to get it,\u201d Chin-Hong said.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>Container Ship Adrift Amid Rough Seas Off Point Reyes National Shoreline<\/a><\/p>\n Many Bay Area residents told KPIX they feel there is now less direction from the state and federal level.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a little more of your own personal responsibility,\u201d Terrie Freni-Johnson, a Marin resident said. \u201cI think the data is out there, you just have to look for it a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n Marin\u2019s Val Walker pointed out that COVID hasn\u2019t gone away.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not over,\u201d Walker said. <\/p>\n Carlos Mascaro felt likewise<\/p>\n