It was obvious that nationwide, there was a very troubling increase in the number of cases. This trend had begun toward the end of June.
On July 1, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made good on his promise to “toggle back” reopenings in California by ordering restaurants once again to shut down dine-in service. This applies to all locales on the “county monitoring list” for at least three consecutive days. There were 19 counties on that list, and Los Angeles was one of them.
Restaurants will still be allowed to offer food for pickup or delivery.
The guideline to cease indoor operations for three weeks also included movie theaters, restaurants, indoor family entertainment businesses, card rooms and zoos. Over the weekend, the governor ordered bars and nightclubs closed.
California’s hospitals went from slightly more than 3,000 coronavirus patients in mid-June to more than 5,000 as of the most recent update which at this time was the first part of July. That’s a 52% increase in 14 days.
Washington State Cases also Rising
On July 2, Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced that he would require Washington businesses to turn away and not serve customers not wearing coronavirus facial coverings. Governor Inslee was masked during the entire press conference.
Continued Politicizing of the Wearing of Masks
Throughout July, the scientific experts strongly recommended the use of masks in public places whenever it’s not possible to maintain social distancing. This was particularly essential when there were more than a small number of people in the area. This led to much debate. To me, it was an effective tool in our limited arsenal to help control the spread.
But to others, it was a political argument. The tired old refrain kept reoccurring, asking why masks weren’t recommended early on if they were necessary. Here in my small city of Lynden, there was mixed response to the mandate to wear masks. Many had no understanding or willingness to understand how science works. And no willingness to even listen.
It was clear, as cases went up nationwide, that steps to reopen businesses, along with holidays and outside events, had led to the increase in cases. To mask/unmask was sporadic and sketchy, depending on the circumstances.
Public Health is Political
In my estimation, here is a summary of the situation in July 2020:
- Dr. Fauci was front and center, after being quiet for some weeks. He appeared in several podcasts and was also a media guest. Many called the spike in cases a “second wave.” Dr. Fauci countered this by saying we were in the middle of the “first wave.” He was discredited by many, to which he shrugged his shoulders. In my opinion, to discredit him was to discredit science. He also came out strongly about the wearing of masks, and explained why. Read some of his statements in this post.
- Cultural moments began appearing that pertained to the pandemic. A few months ago, no one knew anything about pandemics. What happens when our lives stop due to a pandemic that has killed thousands? There was a mix of boredom, anxiety, frustration, helplessness and chronic questionable hygiene affecting many people. Many people looked for distractions while cooped up at home.
- Most Governors around the country began reversing measures to open back up, and began mandating masks as transmission of COVID 19 continued to climb. One that didn’t was Governor Kemp of Georgia (he was never in favor of stay at home orders or lockdowns, and opened up his state very early). He announced a suit against the Mayor of Atlanta for mandating masks. Cases in Georgia were quite high in May, and by July were in the middle of a significant spike. Duh.
- The Trump Administration, due to the thinking that current data is faulty, ordered hospitals to bypass the CDC for data submission, submitting it to Health and Human Services in Atlanta. This is unprecedented. Some believed that it opened the door to more propagandizing of the pandemic. It was taking away data from the CDC to allow a preferred story to be told and to stop others from telling the truth. However, I learned that CDC, as an independent entity, is not set up to collect data such as that required for COVID 19. Also, it made sense to have Health and Human Services handle the collection as they could do it more efficiently. Not sure what I think about this one. Time will tell how the data collection piece worked out in the end.
- Not enough was being done to track the surge through quick contact tracing and turnaround time for diagnostic tests. So we were still “flying blind” in attempts to curb the spread of COVID 19.
- Whether or not schools should reopen began to be very controversial. At the time, Dr. Fauci believed schools should reopen and students should return to school … providing it was safe and healthy for them to do so. He also talked about how one area’s handling of education for children shouldn’t be compared to another (example: comparing Connecticut to South Dakota). In response, Trump launched an aggressive plan to force schools to reopen, and there was a lot of bipartisan pushback.
- Dr. Fauci stated “we were late to the party. Too many states lagging in making decisions and they opened up too early.”
- CDC announced that new findings revealed that 10 days, not 14, is enough to isolate if one tests positive.
- In mid-July, California basically shut back down, and Washington began pulling back, with no applications allowed from counties to move to next phases.
- As of mid-July, Washington was the only state that asked businesses to help with mask compliance.
- Another relief bill should be approved towards the end of the month, when the weekly bonus unemployment will end. The plan is to allocate money for testing/tracing, a reduced unemployment extension, and more targeted assistance for the ones that actually need it.
- Some churches began pushing back in areas where closing in-building worship was discouraged or prohibited.
- Younger people dominated the number of new cases … sometimes close to 70%. Community contact was determined to be the reason for the increase.
- Ongoing science revealed that airborne droplets (finer in nature than those initial droplets when one talks loudly, sings, sneezes or coughs and could be in the air longer and further away) could be a major cause of contamination. It was another reason to wear masks and not to touch one’s face.
- By July 20, Trump appeared to change his strategy. He began resuming daily press conferences … alone, without his scientists. Many thought he was losing ground on the re-election front. But election polls and opinions have proven to be unreliable.
My opinion at the time: The virus was a threat Trump couldn’t bully and his record of inaction was something he couldn’t erase.
Back to the Beginning
Around the 20th of July, Lynn and I decided that we should “go back” to our prior Stay-At-Home Stay Healthy life. Since our county had moved to Phase 2, we had renewed some of our activities with our extended family, particularly because the weather allowed us to go outside. But, because there was so much community (and family) activity, we began to feel unsafe. We also reviewed the phases and had to remind ourselves that through Phase 3, the best decision was for us oldsters to “stay home and stay safe.”
It Was a Troubling Time for Many
Cases soared … and then soared some more. Go here to see the data (lots of scrolling required).
California cases were likely underreported because of issues with California’s electronic tracking system.
The infection rate in the US is now very near the initial peak from April, in practice undoing the whole lockdown procedure.
There is a difference between being reckless and taking an acceptable risk.
I STILL believe that who I trust will balance hope and honesty. But honesty must always lead the way. Full and clear with complete transparency. Recognizing that accepting science means that information will change and evolve as more is learned about COVID 19.