The Bay Area’s various shelter-in-place orders and social distancing measures appear to be working where it matters most.
That’s according to one expert, as the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 across the region begins to taper off.
"Overall, the number of cases that are being reported is down," University of California, San Francisco Professor of Epidemiology George Rutherford told KCBS Radio. "The number of hospitalizations is down. That’s very good news, (but) it’s not cause to stop doing it and go out and take a victory lap."
Rutherford believes we cannot become complacent, however, and the next step is for all of us to wear masks when we leave home.
"If 80% of people wore masks, there would be fewer than one secondary case for every primary case and we’d be on a path to rapidly declining case rates," Rutherford said.
Rutherford does caution hospitalization numbers are a lagging indicators, as people going to the hospital with COVID-19 probably were infected at least 10 days ago and don’t represent all confirmed cases.
"Most people should be wearing masks outside and they certainly should be wearing masks when they go into stores and into public places," Rutherford said. "We know from China that most of the transmission took place indoors, and so that’s what we’re concentrating on, but there’s nothing to say that it can’t occur outdoors, as well."
Rutherford thinks the development of a COVID-19 vaccine is necessary for us to return to life as we knew it before the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated numbers from the California Department of Public Health show more than 76,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. Santa Clara continues to lead Bay Area counties, with 2,395 positive cases and 136 deaths. Los Angeles paces the state with a staggering 36,317 positive cases and 1,755 deaths.