Six months into the pandemic, numbers are improving in LA, but the danger is still here

In LA County, more than 250,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 6,200 people have died. People are still working from home and wearing masks. Some are worried about touching door handles or getting anywhere near anyone else. Six months in, the pandemic seems to be improving in LA and other parts of the country.

“We are gaining ground. The three w’s: wear a mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance. We are seeing the direct effects of simple measures. It’s not Remdesivir … it’s not ventilators. It’s the simple infection control. … I love the success. But all it means is what we’re doing is working. We have to keep it up,” says Dr. Oliver Brooks, Chief Medical Officer of Watts HealthCare Corporation.

However, the danger isn’t near over, and could worsen again in the fall.

“Not all places are experiencing this decline in deaths and hospitalizations and seven-day testing average,” says Dr. Deborah Prothrow Stith, dean and professor of medicine at the College of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University. “So I think as a society, if we can continue to do the mask wearing, the social distancing, opening in some very rational ways, we’ll make it to that open door where there’s sunshine behind it.”

Dr. Brooks adds that six months from now, he believes the nation will be in a better place. “The problem is that some of this has been politicized. So we have to be clear and follow the science and not the politics.”