Written by T. Logan Dayne
Groups of local health officials are once again urging Californians to mask up. It’s been over two years since COVID-19 hit the U.S. and as the 800th day of “15 days to slow the spread” draws near Californians may be looking at renewed lockdowns from their elected officials. Over 75 million vaccines have been administered in California with 75% of the population vaccinated, despite this the number of Californians that have died just passed 90,000 over the two years in a state with nearly 40 million people. That is 0.02 per 100k before being adjusted for age demographics, since experts are now admitting that the virus did have a disproportionate impact on the elderly. None of this is stopping those at the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center from suggesting that the number being reported is actually “much higher.”
Many restaurants and businesses are still struggling to bring workers and customers back. Experts are suggesting that it will actually be Omicron sub-variants that will keep workers from returning. They suggest the sub-variant will increase as the 3rd and 4th booster shots begin to wane and relaxed restrictions begin to occur. Experts also say that returning to in-person learning for children may also be a problem as teachers may lose their jobs as online teaching resources decline. Some are also suggesting that these loose restrictions and letting people return to their lives may beget more cases of “Long COVID”, a topic of some controversy now as some studies have begun to dispute its validity, but many prominent figures have accepted it as fact despite little research.
Photo Cred: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
