It was one year ago Tuesday that health officials in six Bay Area counties came together to order a shelter-in-place for millions of residents.
In the days leading up to the decision, health officials watched nervously as coronavirus cases ticked up each day.
"We know that Santa Clara County is the epicenter of this outbreak in the Bay Area and we know that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly," said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody on Mar. 16, 2020. "These new orders direct all individuals to shelter at their place of residence and maintain social distancing of at least six feet from any other person when outside their residence."
While it was a shock at the time, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and public health officials across the country would quickly follow in what became a seismic global shift. Schools and businesses closed, people started working from home and what was supposed to be a three-week order has in some form lasted for a year.
The orders have been devastating for businesses, workers, parents and schoolchildren.
But they have also likely saved tens of thousands of lives, said Dr. George Rutherford, Director of Prevention and Public Health at UCSF.
"Our death rates are substantially lower than other parts of the state and certainly the rest of the country. I mean there’s a reason for it. I would bet that if we were to have this series of decisions to do again, we'd pretty much do the same things."
Nonetheless, the loss of life has been staggering with 535,000 people dead in the U.S. and 2.6 million worldwide.
Where do we go from here?
Dr. Rutherford said he expects things to continue to improve as the vaccine supply increases, with a note of caution: we need to keep wearing masks until more of the population has been vaccinated.
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