Written By: Tiffany Liu
According to the Worldometer, there are currently about 5,700,000 active cases of the coronavirus worldwide as of July 26. Only 1% of these cases are serious, while the other 99% are mild. There are also about 10,600,000 closed cases worldwide, of which 6% resulted in deaths, and the rest in recovery. Of the closed cases in America, 93% resulted in recovery. In America alone, the death rate due to coronavirus has gone down, while the recovery rate has gone up. In California, about 94% of the closed cases resulted in recovery. A Shelter-in-Place order was issued in March.
The Resilience Roadmap is a reopening plan with four stages. Stage 1 is safety and preparedness. Everyone is required to stay at home except to do certain permitted and essential activities. PPE (personal protective equipment) is to be made widely available. Stage 2 is opening up lower-risk workplaces. Some of these would include “retail, manufacturing, offices (when telework not possible), outdoor museums, [and] limited personal services”. Stage 3 is opening up higher-risk workplaces. During this stage, higher-risk workplaces such as “limited personal care and recreational venues” are gradually opening. Finally, stage 4 is the end of the stay-at-home order, meaning that all activities from before the pandemic can be resumed.
California is currently at stage 2 of the roadmap, meaning low-risk workplaces are gradually opening. In Alameda County, restaurants and bars are open for pickup or delivery. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “educational institutions to resume career internship and pathways programs” are also allowed open. Outdoor activities are permitted as long as you maintain social distancing. Many outdoor facilities such as dog parks are also opening. Outdoor gatherings that consist of at most 12 people are allowed as long as the different households share similar social bubbles. Currently, sit-down dining, personal services (such as the hair salon), and many entertainment services (such as theaters and concert venues) are not open.
Health conditions are gradually improving, breakthroughs are being made, and death rates are lowering. People’s lives are being changed, but there are also silver linings to this pandemic. According to the CDC, the predicted number of total deaths in America (of all causes, not just the coronavirus) in the week of June 20, 2020, was a lot lower than the average number of weekly deaths in the past years. This could be due to the fact that there is a lower chance of death by causes other than the coronavirus. For instance, there are fewer people on the road, resulting in fewer car accidents. Many people also learned the importance of washing their hands and covering their cough. This would result in fewer people catching other diseases as well. The world is gradually moving back onto the right track, and in the process, growing stronger.
Works Cited:
Worldometer. COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. 11 July 2020. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/.
SF Chronicle Digital Team. California’s reopening: See what’s open and what’s still shut down by county. 11 July 2020. https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2020/coronavirus-map/california-reopening.
Covid19.ca.gov. Stay home Q&A. 6 July 2020. https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/#open.
Covid19.ca.gov. Resilience Roadmap. 18 June 2020. https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap/.
Valerie Richardson. Coronavirus death rate keeps dropping even as alarm grows over summer surge. 6 July 2020. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/6/coronavirus-death-rate-rops-even-cases-spike/.
CDC. Excess Deaths Associated with COVID-19. 8 July 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm.
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