Cases of coronavirus have started to decline and many cities in the United States are slowly beginning to reopen; however, on Tuesday April 20th, the Director of the CDC stated publicly that the second wave of this virus could be even worse than the situation we are currently facing. Covid-19 would resurface in the fall and winter seasons, which is the same time as the flu season; it is predicted that having these two respiratory outbreaks at the same time will lead to even more shortages of care and a significantly higher number of deaths.
Although the strict "stay-at-home" orders are being lifted, the crucial nature of social distancing will continue to apply in order to decrease the already high risk of the disease spreading.
Currently, the CDC is in the process of assisting state and local governments in the new phases of reopening and providing guidance for the measures they should be taking. They are also working to help with the task of social tracing, and in their efforts to do so, they have decided to hire more than 650 people - there is also a possibility of Censes Bureau workers along with Peace corps and AmeriCorps volunteers will come together to build an "alternative workforce."
Questions:
1. The CDC recommends that measures such as social distancing or getting the flu shot are some measures that can be taken in preparation for the second wave. What other measures should individuals take to protect themselves from this more deadly second wave? What more should the CDC and/or government do?
2. How should the state and local governments be assisted when it comes to reopening in phases?
3. Do you think that people will continue to engage in social distancing, or will most people go back to their previous habits?
I think in order to protect themselves from the second wave of COVID-19, people should continue to do what they are doing now. People should continue to wear masks in public, wash their hands often, not touch their faces, wear gloves when touching things in public, and of course stay away from large groups of people. However, ultimately I think once the second wave hits along with the seasonal flu, any sort of reopening we have done in the country will have to be reversed and we’ll have to revert back to what life is like now because if we don’t the virus will inevitably spread along with the flu, resulting in a lot of deaths. Regarding how people will act during the reopening period, I think after a few weeks a lot of people will start to get lazy with their precautions and we’ll see another spike in cases.
ReplyDeleteThis outbreak is a practical exercise in why we don't simply quarantine ourselves against the flu. It's completely impossible to eradicate any similarly infectious disease without perpetual extreme measures. Sadly, I think many are becoming frustrated with the quarantine, as they personally know few ill and their livelihoods are at stake. Regardless of when the quarantine is officially lifted, over time people will return to a semblance of normalcy. Should a second wave break, people will be hesitant to return back inside after having enjoyed a few weeks of freedom, regardless if it's the right thing to do. Hopefully over time some intermediate stage becomes normal.
ReplyDeleteI think to protect ourselves from this second wave is to continue what we are doing now like being socially distant, washing hands, wearing gloves and keeping our hands from our face. This will help with preventing the further spread of coronavirus. Recently China has been hit with a second wave of coronavirus which has been worse than the first. The reason behind this second spread was due to China loosening health regulations because the spread was slowing down. Instead the spread has grown even more. I think we should stay very cautious when it comes to the reopening phase because of the events that have occured in China. As of now, I think it would be best to continue to engage into social distancing, but at some point we will go back to our previous habits.
ReplyDeleteI think many people who are still apprehensive of the current situation, or scared of contracting the coronavirus will continue to practice social distancing and other preventative measures. Just because the economy is “reopening,” doesn’t necessarily mean that people are going to go “back to business.” I think that we shouldn’t be undergoing reopening just yet, as the second phase has the potential to be more deadly. But if the government wants to begin reopening, I think they should do it gradually and support the companies that are deemed to be reopened.
ReplyDeleteI think about half of the population will continue social distancing if they reopen the economy and the other half will either ignore those rules or get tired of practicing social distancing. I don’t think it’s a good idea to reopen the economy yet, especially if the second wave would be worse. However, I do think the government needs to come up with something to appease the protesters because they are putting a lot of people in danger by protesting and ignoring the social distancing rules. I liked that the government has like a rough draft of a plan with stages and certain criteria states need to meet before everything’s back to normal.
ReplyDeleteI think in order for people to protect themselves from a second wave, it is necessary for everyone to maintain social distancing. When going out it is important to wear masks and gloves, constantly wash hands for 20 seconds, and avoid touching your face. I think state and local governments should first slowly start to ease restrictions before completely reopening counties. I would like to think that people will continue to engage in social distancing but reality is that some people aren’t even taking it seriously in the first place. Everyone is getting frustrated with the way we are living and people are going to forget about the necessary precautions. Overall, people want to return to normalcy.
ReplyDeleteI think that as of now, the best thing to do is to have most people stay/work at home while keeping vital industries such as the food sectors running. People may be tempted to go outside and commence social interactions, but shall a second wave emerge, I think that people would only take social distancing more seriously. We can already see many people breaking health protocols by going to beaches (as was the case the past weekend in Los Angeles), and some states are already gradually opening up public services. In the very long run, I am concerned that some individuals might run out of savings, leading to devastating societal consequences. Many Americans cannot work from home, and the unemployment rate is skyrocketing. To mitigate this crisis, the government can perhaps hand out more unemployment benefits.
ReplyDeleteI believe that social distancing is going to be a new normal in our society. The threat of a second wave that could be even more deadly is extremely frightening, yet many cities are ignoring the threat due to wanted to help prevent the further collapse of the economy. To protect themselves from a second wave, individuals should always take precautionary measures such as being six feet away from people and getting their flu shot. I do not think the government should jump into reopening cities and lifting stay at home orders because that could possibly retract all of our current efforts and it would have all been for nothing. The worst thing that can happen now is a spike in the number of cases at one time, and our nation does not have enough healthcare supplies to deal with the spur in numbers. I believe people will continue to social distance and be extra careful until a vaccine is created. In my opinion, I do not believe that we will be safe to go back to our regular way of life until a vaccine has been created due to the nature of this virus, since it is so contagious.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your second question, I believe that state and local governments should be provided with the supplies and materials necessary to screen their citizens for the coronavirus before reopening. This way, citizens who are infected can continue to be quarantined instead of blindly reopening states and letting the coronavirus spread even more.
ReplyDeleteTo protect from the second wave, I think that people should continue social distancing and wearing masks and staying home as much as possible. I get that some cities don't have case numbers as high as others like NYC, SF, and LA and aren't "hit as hard" by the virus but the exponential rate of the virus spreading is the same assuming that we go about life as usual. So taking the necessary precautions like social distancing and wearing masks will help minimize the growth rate and number of cases. We can't really escape the inevitability of the virus mutating, but the least we can do is stay safe.
ReplyDeleteIf we give people money to support themselves, they will be much more likely to social distance and not risk going to work. The issue is that we humans are social creatures and many people are getting sick of being stuck inside for this long. I believe the federal government needs to assert more control over the population, requiring people to stay home...but this is America and we believe in civil liberties so much that we feel like staying is home is taking away our freedom somehow. Here's how I believe we should reopen: Very carefully.
ReplyDeleteIn order to protect from another wave of the virus people should continue what they are currently doing: Social distancing. Social distancing is best for the nation's health and the world's health. It has clearly helped California. I direct product of not social distancing is New York, going over the number of hospital beds they have and their ICU beds. None of the other states should end up like New York so we should close every state. If Trump wants to keep the economy open he should at least consider the health of the people.
ReplyDeleteI think that in preparation for the second wave of the virus and in order to protect ourselves and others more at risk of contracting the disease, we should continue to take the social distancing and stay-at-home orders seriously. Despite many places reopening and the stay-at-home order being uplifted, this is shouldn't mean that the coronavirus pandemic is finished, but rather the opposite: that people should be more cautious when going outside and being in public places. I think more people will quickly go back to their old habits as the measures of social distancing are lessening, as I have already witnessed this happening in many places such as downtown.
ReplyDeleteI dislike that different areas are reopening at different times just because a slight decrease in numbers occurs; I belive it would be more beneficial to be just a little more patient for the change to be significant before slowly lightening restrictions. With that being said, I know that especially at this time of year, people still want to have a chance to do things that they can’t. Everyone is under a lot of pressure, but I think this is a crucial personal freedoms versus order of society moment. I do think that people will be more wary once reopening occurs, but our habits will eventually fade back to where they were before as the virus becomes less prominent.
ReplyDeleteIn order to stay protected from the second wave, I believe that everyone should continue social distancing and staying home and take it very seriously. I am however not in favor of certain areas in the United States reopening because this will essentially give out the message that coronavirus is over and it is safe to go out. Although I do understand that many business owners and employees are suffering from unemployment so there is a will to get the economy going again, containing the spread of the virus is equally if not more important. To help families that are significantly struggling I think the government should provide more benefits to at least temporarily relieve the financial crisis that many are struggling with.
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