Editorial: Now is the time to get real about COVID-19 in SLO County
Dr. Penny Borenstein
–By Dr. Penny Borenstein, Health Officer, San Luis Obispo County
–COVID-19 is surging in San Luis Obispo County. For the many people who have been personally affected, for those who have been able to avoid paying close attention and those who are simply tired of this issue: this is the moment in SLO County when things are getting real. We would like very much to be done with the virus, but it is not done with us.
Nearly a third of all COVID-19 deaths to date in SLO County have occurred in the past two weeks. These are families who now have an empty seat at their table because a loved one has died from COVID-19 in the time since Thanksgiving.
We recently surpassed 7,000 cases, and 30% of these were reported in November alone. We recently reported 196 cases in one day, the highest number of cases reported in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
We are responding to more than 20 outbreaks at skilled nursing and other long-term care facilities, the County jail, our psychiatric health facility, California Men’s Colony, Atascadero State Hospital, and some local fire stations.
Our hospitals have been calling in recent days looking for policy decisions about adding testing for their workers, reissuing limits on visitation, and preparing their response readiness as more very ill patients come through their doors.
What can and should we be doing about this? I receive an onslaught of communication about what I or the County Board should or shouldn’t do. I am glad that people are paying attention and discussing this.
Yet I want to emphasize: it is you, residents of our county, who can control our destiny. By our collective actions, we have the power together to turn the curve and not allow this disease to take more of our neighbors from us.
We must acknowledge that this is a very serious disease. It is not the flu or a cold. It may seem that way for many who contract it, but that was not the case for the 20,000 Californians and nearly 300,000 Americans who have died from this disease in only nine months. That is 10-15 times the number of lives lost in a typical flu season.
We need to accept that information about this disease, how it spreads and how we can protect ourselves continues to evolve. We now know that much of the spread is from people with no symptoms who do not realize they are infecting others. We know sharing space, air, food and objects increases the likelihood of spreading disease.
We know wearing a piece of fabric over your face can make a profound difference in protecting health and allowing our community to move forward toward reopening. I am the first to admit that I and many higher-level experts were slow in strongly advocating universal masking. We now know better and I implore you to use this knowledge for our collective benefit.
I know we are all weary, but now is not the time to let your weariness get the best of you.
Please stay home and away from people outside your household as much as possible. This is so much more important now than it has been at any point in the pandemic. Stay social through phone and face-sharing apps, just not in person. Exercise outdoors solo or with members of your household. Do not feel that you must, at this moment in our county, gather in person with your friends.
If you work at a nursing home, at the County jail, at the California Men’s Colony or with other vulnerable people, don’t unknowingly become a lethal weapon. It is critical, especially for those who may bring the virus to our most vulnerable residents, that you do everything you can to avoid infection.
That doesn’t mean we can’t live our lives and support our businesses. For those who are able to, I encourage you to get takeout often from your favorite restaurants, keep your gym membership up, donate to our local non-profits, support a drive-in movie-theater and order products online from local businesses, including hair and nail salons.
I recognize this is a difficult request, but we are strong. We will get through this, just as those before us found the strength to get through the two-year Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1920, just as our community got through the Great Depression, just as our nation got through two World Wars. There is light at the end of this tunnel.
The vaccine is in sight. Until then, let’s all do our part to save lives, be kind to each other, support local business, and hold on for the day when we can gather together and look back knowing we did our absolute best to protect the people and the community we love.
