My hometown is as deep blue as it comes and masking is still the norm. Most stores still require it and you STILL see people in cars alone, walking down the street, even jogging(!) wearing masks. I never wore masks outside and regularly got dirty looks from maskers while hiking or walking down the street.
I'm on vacation now to a red area and it's such a relief to be gone from that. I didn't even realize how oppressive the constant masking is. I took my kid to a playground yesterday that must have had 50-60 people (kids and adults) and not a single mask in sight. My kid was nervous at first (he's had to mask at school for 8 hours a day), and now he can't shut up about how great it is not to wear masks.
It's wonderful.
That's easier said than done. The alternative for my kid was very clear--mask or you're not allowed in the building. So...mask and get in-person school or fight the good fight and stay at home.
The school performed temperature checks every morning before allowing students in. That's yet another anti-science practice. State Department of Health and CDC both recommend AGAINST temperature checks for kids because they just don't work at all. Most of the time covid doesn't cause a fever in kids (false negatives) and most of the time when kids have fevers it's not covid (false positives).
It's security theater. I get it. I still don't see any positive outcome from attempting to force the issue though my elementary age kid