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The morgues are about to overflow. Hospitals have fewer patient beds per day. Over 1,000 people have died.
Yet in Santa Clara County, people can still buy perfumes, phones and clothes at the mall. It’s a stark difference from almost a year ago, when officials shut down everything – all non-essential businesses, restaurants, schools and offices – to bring contagious coronavirus, a disease the Most scientists were struggling to understand.
Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody has made national headlines and earned spots on CNN and other cable news networks for being the country’s first to broadcast a shelter-in-place order, requiring residents to stay indoors for almost everything but essentials – food, gas and medicine, for example.
The idea, Cody insisted against mounting criticism, was to flatten the curve. It worked.
But now COVID-19 cases are at an all time high, with the latest wave of new cases coming from people gathering for the holidays. So why are Santa Clara County’s restrictions looser today than they were in March – despite the fact that COVID-19 cases have far exceeded any previous increase?
The answer is economic, psychological and political.
“Stop fatigue”
Experts say health officials are approaching closures and restrictions with more caution today, despite the growing number of people dying every day, due to pandemic fatigue and financial hardship. Health executives like Cody have also faced extraordinary political pressure to reopen businesses, increased surveillance and even death threats.
“There’s a lot of midlife fatigue and a lot of shutdown fatigue,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association. “There are other implications for society when you do this, not just economic.”
Benjamin said health officials must weigh the economic and educational consequences when making closure decisions.
“Your kids don’t go to school and they’re falling behind in their classes,” Benjamin said. “Children who receive free and discounted school meals are at greater risk of food insecurity. Obviously, the impact on the economy is that people who lose their jobs often lose their health insurance. “
There are some slight – but noticeable – differences between the shelter-in-place order of March 2020 and the one in effect today which began on December 6.
In March 2020, health officials closed schools, restaurants, cinemas, hair and nail salons, canceled sporting events and non-essential businesses. This time around, schools with vouchers can continue and non-essential retailers and malls can have up to 20% capacity.
Travel restrictions
Holiday gatherings and travel are one of the main sources of the recent wave of COVID-19, officials said. Another important difference between the current restrictions and those in March relates to travel.
The current health ordinance recommends against traveling and requires people traveling 150 miles or more to self-quarantine for at least 10 days, if they have no symptoms of COVID-19. In March, officials ordered all non-essential travel to stop.
“We know the virus spreads when people move around, when people share space and air, so reducing that should reduce the spread,” said Kat Saxton, associate professor of biology and public health at the University of Santa Clara. “But people are also tired of COVID.”
Some health experts say the reason people ignored travel advice from health officials while on vacation is because officials preached abstinence rather than harm reduction.
McGill University law professor Daniel Weinstock writes in a study that if people were given measured measures to reduce the risk of disease transmission when picking, they would feel empowered – not forced – to take measures. rational decisions. And fewer people would ignore security measures.
Violations by companies
Despite the reduced number of businesses closing this time around, a county spokesperson said enforcement of the scofflaws had increased. Trade compliance officials are monitoring and fining establishments for violating COVID-19 health protocols.
Health experts added that neighboring Santa Clara County counties must follow suit with shelter-in-place orders to be consistent and effective. Neighboring San Mateo County, for example, didn’t start following the state stay-at-home order until December 17, almost two weeks after Santa Clara County.
“It’s like the barrier for a county health department to make decisions without the other surrounding areas,” Saxton said. “People are obviously crossing county lines, so how efficient can you make a county without a more regional approach.”
Contact Mauricio La Plante at [email protected] or follow @mslaplantenews on Twitter.
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