Morgues are on the verge of overcrowding. Hospitals have fewer beds for patients during the day. More than 1,000 people died.
Still, people in Santa Clara County can buy perfume, phones, and clothing at the mall. This is a stark difference from almost a year ago when officials shut down everything – all insignificant retail, restaurants, schools and offices – to get the contagious coronavirus under control, a disease that most scientists were working out. find.
Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody made national headlines and earned herself on CNN and other cable news networks because she was the first in the country to issue a shelter-in-place order, which required residents to stay for almost everything except the necessities – for example food, gas and medicine.
The idea, Cody insisted on increasingly criticizing, was to flatten the curve. It worked.
But now COVID-19 cases are at a peak, the latest wave in new business stemming from people gathering for the holidays. Why are the restrictions of Santa Clara County looser today than in March – despite the cases of COVID-19 rising beyond any previous increase?
The answer is economic, psychological and political.
‘Fatigue to switch off’
Experts believe health officials approach the closures and restrictions more cautiously today, although more people are dying every day due to pandemic fatigue and financial problems. Health leaders like Cody have also come under extraordinary political pressure to reopen businesses, increase investigations and even death threats.
“There is a lot of fatigue in quarantine and a lot of fatigue in the standstill,” said dr. Georges Benjamin, the director of the American Public Health Association, said. “There are other implications for society if you do, not just economically.”
Benjamin said health officials should weigh economic and educational consequences when deciding to quit.
“Your kids don’t go to school and they fall behind in their classes,” Benjamin said. ‘Children who get free lunch and have fewer school hours may be more food insecure. The impact on the economy, of course, is that people who lose their jobs often lose their health insurance. ”
There are some minor – but striking – differences between the shelter-in-place order in March 2020 and the one in force that began today, December 6th.
In March 2020, health officials closed schools, restaurants, cinemas, hair and nail salons, canceled sporting events and insignificant retail. This time, schools can continue with vouchers and non-essential retailers and malls can have up to 20% of their capacity.
Travel Restrictions
One of the biggest sources of the recent COVID-19 boom is holiday gatherings and travel, officials said. Another important difference between the restrictions of today and those in March is related to travel.
The current health order recommends no travel and requires people to be quarantined for at least ten days if they show no symptoms of COVID-19. In March, officials ordered all non-important travel to stop.
“We know that the virus spreads when people move around, when people share space and share air, and that will reduce the spread,” said Kat Saxton, associate professor of biology and public health at Santa Clara University. “But people are also tired of COVID.”
Some health experts say the reason why people ignored health officials’ travel advice during the holidays was because officials preached abstinence rather than reducing harm.
McGill University law professor Daniel Weinstock writes in a study that if people are given measures to reduce the risk of disease transmission during collection, they will feel empowered – not forced – to make rational decisions. And fewer people will challenge security measures.
Violations by businesses
Despite fewer businesses closing this time, a provincial spokesman said enforcement of spotters has increased. Business compliance officers monitor and fine-tune institutions for violating COVID-19 health protocols.
Health experts added that counties in the Santa Clara County area should follow their example with instructions to be sheltered and consistent. Neighboring San Mateo County, for example, only began following the state’s home order on Dec. 17, nearly two weeks after Santa Clara County.
“It’s like the barrier for a health department to make decisions without the other surrounding areas,” Saxton said. “People naturally exceed counties, so how effective can one country be without a more regional approach.”
Contact Mauricio La Plante by [email protected] or follow @mslaplantenews on Twitter.