Looking at countries that have already reopened

As our communities begin to reopen each with their own set of rules; do people need to wear a face-covering, how far do people need to stand apart from each-other when not wearing a mask, are restaurants and bars allowed to reopen and how…There are countless regulations that are or are not being used that make each city, county and state have a different likely hood of whether they will experience a second wave of COVID-19.

Looking at other countries and their own reopening strategies can give us an idea of what to expect.  With China being one of the first countries to reopen they were keeping track of the spread of the virus through intense testing.  The city of Wuhan, China was able to test 856,128 people in one day on May 19th to help find asymptomatic people.  This amount of testing helps to quickly stop the spread of COVID-19 and it’s use should influence our communities to do the same.

Protests are happening across the country

The civil unrest caused by the death/murder of George Floyd has spread throughout the country and in other countries around the world.  Although it is everyone’s right to protest and voice their opinion in a civil manner, the very act of grouping together is cause for concern during the COVID-19 pandemic.  If everyone that protested was wearing a face-covering and was physical-distancing with at least 6 feet between each other then there should be no cause for concern.  But the truth is that these demonstrations are real mass gatherings with few people wearing face-coverings and no one is physically distancing from each other.  It really is inevitable the there will be increases of COVID-19 infections with the people that chose to march in the streets.  Hopefully the increase in cases doesn’t create an actual 2nd wave of infections in our communities, but only time will tell if this is the case.

It is up to each person to slow the spread

With all of the health guidelines that have been put in place by our cities, counties and states it is important to remember that the virus is spread from one person to another and each of us is able to help prevent this from happening.  We each have a responsibility to stop a second wave from happening.  Please remember to:

– Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for 20 seconds (or use hand sanitizer)

– Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth

– Stay at least 6ft away from people that are not in your household

– Cover your mouth and nose with a face-covering when near others

If we all followed these steps then the spread of COVID-19 would end.  Let us hope that we as individuals can do this for ourselves and for each other.

References

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-01/coronavirus-what-if-we-can-avoid-a-second-wave

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-wuhan/chinas-wuhan-says-conducted-856128-covid-19-tests-on-tuesday-idUSKBN22W1RD

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52845015

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/protests-could-spread-coronavirus-second-wave-was-coming-demonstrations-ncna1216911

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/05/27/anthony-fauci-second-wave-isnt-inevitable-if-we-do-these-things-sot-nr-vpx.cnn

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