SJ County health officials fearful of Fourth of July festivities
RecordJul 02, 2020
Gatherings among mixed households that mark the tradition are of great concern, as community spread has been determined the top cause for the recent explosion of positive cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the county, the state and in many parts of the country.
"I'm really, really worried that people are going to have gatherings outside of their family members," San Joaquin County Public Health Services Officer Dr.
Park said she will not budge from the state order: "You should not have any
"We still have a couple cities that are putting on fireworks shows, but they are saying you can watch in a car," Park said. "I'm really worried they aren't going to be able to see the fireworks without getting out of their car. I say don't do something that will tempt you not to follow the rules."
Park said the county cannot afford a repeat of
Hospitals and forecasts
Area hospitals are in crisis, Park said. Beds are available but staffing levels are so low, an influx could mean discharging patients early or moving COVID-19 patients to more floors, which would further tax healthcare workers.
"Our hospitals are overflowing," Park said. "We don't want to kick out people just because we don't have the space. We're close to doing that. It's a problem we're really trying to juggle. It's all of our (seven) hospitals. Even if they aren't full, they are fuller than before and they're not used to this. COVID-19 is tough to treat. It's a huge burden on hospitals."
"It's worse," he said. "It is worse. The pathogen is still here. The only thing that is changing is our behavior."
Early last month, Davis sent an email to friends and colleagues in which he correctly predicted spikes in positive cases and hospitalizations in advance of a second wave in 13 counties nationwide, including
Since February, Davis has provided expertise to
"That's all very disconcerting," he said. "And it's a major, major issue."
On Saturday, while attending an outreach event for the Hispanic community in
"If we can get things under control, hopefully, we can get to a level phase and work our way down," he said. "If we don't then we're going to see this precipitous climb and at that point in time, you're now using your surge capacity and we'll be in a world of hurt."
Davis explained the clock is ticking before influenza season and COVID-19 comingle this fall. Coronavirus relies on what we do as a host and what we do with our behavior, he said. At first, people were afraid and took precautions. Then, people got fatigued when they needed to remain disciplined.
"We are in a situation where now we just have this preponderance of cases," Davis said, "and it didn't need to be."
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