In part, rising numbers represent the virus spreading into places that largely avoided the first round of infections, including rural Imperial County in California’s southeastern desert. Yet the contagion also remains present in some places that bore the brunt of the first wave, including Los Angeles County. Hospitalizations there are lower than at the start of May, but deaths remain stubbornly high, with 500 dying in the past week alone.
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County public health director, said in an interview that the region has likely not seen the end of the first wave. And despite concerns about infections coming out of mass demonstrations that have gripped the sprawling city, she thinks the reopening of the economy will have a bigger impact.
“We’re not at the tail end of anything,” she said. “We never had a huge peak. We’ve kind of been within this band. We’re not in decline, we’re kind of holding our own in ways that protect the health-care system.” But, she added, “go to Venice and see the crowds, and you’ll understand why I have concerns.”
Another Onslaught
The U.S. has long been bracing for another wave of the coronavirus, but future outbreaks are likely to take a different shape. Precautions like social distancing and mask-wearing, as well as careful behavior by individuals, are likely to have staying power in many parts of the country even as economies reopen.
But experts are also steeling for autumn, when changes in weather and back-to-school plans could have damaging repercussions.
“The second wave isn’t going to mirror the first wave exactly,” said Lance Waller, a professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta. “The distancing works to dampen things at the beginning, and it’s not snapping back to exactly the same thing as before, because we’re not exactly the way we were before.”
Daniel Lucey, a fellow at the Infectious Diseases Society of America, compared the virus’ new paradigm to a day at the beach: The U.S. has been bracing for another “high tide” like what engulfed New York City. But today is a low tide and “the waves are always coming in.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.