California in Lockdown 2.0 as Coronavirus Cases Surge
By Faiza Zia Khan
Newport Beach, CA
California is in lockdown again! What? Why? There really should be no surprises as we pushed all limits to the maximum and we ended up doing this to ourselves. Revisiting events around and following the Memorial Day weekend has now resulted in a reversal of any progress we seemed to be making with the harshest of initial pandemic closures in early March.
Research shows with the arrival of sunny warm weather Californians abandoned their resolve to contain the pandemic and cascaded outdoors to make up for the three months of stay-at-home quarantine. The results might not have been that damaging if the social distancing rules of maintaining a six feet distance, face masks, and staying in open air spaces were followed. Sadly, they were not, and by the time everyone realized what had happened it was already too late. The virus had overcome those who were not immune, it had mutated into different variations, and even worse, spread amongst all demographics instead of just the elderly as it was previously. The problems faced by people affected by the pandemic are symptomatic of a much wider problem. Here’s why...
I deconstruct some underlying problems that could have been easily tackled to contain the pandemic as observed. There was a huge push to reopen schools for in-person classes for Fall 2020 in the middle of a pandemic. In all honesty, I am unsure where the thought came from as even when the flu season comes around it is mostly the families/parents of school-going folks who get affected first as the kids brought the flu or cold home from school. The rules do not differ for any virus whether it’s a flu or the coronavirus strain.
Despite the push from the Federal government, California's two school districts have announced their fall semester will be conducted with online-only mode of instruction and virtual classes, due to the skyrocketing rates of coronavirus infections. This reminds us of the severity of the situation that the Los Angeles School District - the second largest in the entire country - is curtailing in-person classes to stop the spread of virus through school children. Interestingly enough the younger demographic were initially not even in the high-risk category. As the coronavirus spiraled it is now attacking everyone in its trajectory. No one is safe or immune until the vaccine comes out!
Rightfully so, the California school districts based their decision on research statistics provided by credible sources and they do not look good. As of last week the number of coronavirus cases in the US surpassed 3.3 million on Monday as the nation’s death toll exceeded 135,000. Florida reported more than 12,000 new coronavirus infections, and in our home state California, Governor Gavin Newsom closed indoor services in 30 counties (which include all of Southern California) for restaurants, pubs, cultural venues and movie theaters. Governor Newsom watched in dismay as the numbers of positive cases rose and hospital capacity overflowed yet again. There was not much choice but to announce a rollback in the state’s reopening plan. Newsom has tried being the nice governor for a while with his mild mannered televised warnings and pep-talks. But as the numbers continue to rise he has tightened the rules. He was not left with much choice at all. As one critic correctly said, “We can’t keep going through a closing and reopening cycle until there’s a vaccine, assuming there will be one. The episodic shutdowns will destroy the economy, not to mention the will to get out of bed in the morning.”
Luckily, California Lockdown 2.0 is not as extreme as the first version. For one thing, Californians will still be able to enjoy dining out, but tread water cautiously it is only if they remain outside. Indoor dining, as well as wine tasting and movie going, are prohibited statewide. There will be repercussions if people are caught dining indoors. Large gatherings are prohibited where close proximity with other people without masks and six-feet social distancing is not allowed. In short life has come to a halt for a Southern Californian.
SoCal residents pride themselves for their little luxury escapism trips to massages, pedicures, yoga/pilates/zumba, movies, and social gatherings. True life will be dysfunctional but at least we would have survived. Newsom stated the new orders are like, “...lowering the dimmer switch on reopening.” Critics assert this is an analogy Newsom is fond of using very frequently when discussing pandemic restrictions, but in their opinion it feels as if the lights just went out. Again!
Some of the restrictions seem reasonable as the states saw devastating data coming in from everywhere. The other higher impact states - Arizona, Florida, and Texas - reported near-record daily COVID-19 cases. Cases in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia surged by more than 20 percent in the past week. The data reveals that many states, including Arkansas, California and Nevada, have reported an increased rate of positive coronavirus tests consistently on a daily basis. News data is not very optimistic in many other states across the country. (This research data was taken from the John Hopkins Hospital website).
Similar announcements came from other governors and states after assessing the status quo from surrounding states. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo postponed meals served in dining rooms out of what he deemed “an abundance of caution and after seeing other states’ experiences with indoor dining. New York City is a crowded, dense urban area and, until recently, was the global epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis. New York City was one of the bright spots, as the city logged its first 24-hour period without any reported coronavirus deaths,” the governor said. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the news was, “...so striking and so moving. Still, he warned city residents against complacency given the rise in cases among younger people, especially those between 20 and 29 years old.”
Hopefully, we come out of Lockdown 2.0 soon, so we can continue with the post-coronavirus normal that we are struggling so hard to achieve.
(Faiza Zia Khan holds a Master’s in Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has collaborated with news media outlets including Global National and actively volunteers for several community investment projects for the Red Cross, United Way and the Breast Cancer Foundation)
