WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) – As the U.S. surpasses 90,000 COVID-19 deaths over just 3 months, what does that tell us about the next 3 months of this pandemic?
Bay Area counties are beginning to reopen some businesses and within weeks more will follow.
It’s a grim milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic — 90,000 U.S. deaths over the course of a few months since the outbreak began.
Many people are anxious to get back to a normal life but the numbers tell us the virus is still a big problem.
“What we also can speculate is that the 90,000 is likely lower than the actual number,” Dr. Michael Stacey said.
Dr. Michael Stacey with Lifelong Medical Care says as businesses reopen and more people get out, they need to keep in mind how easily COVID-19 can spread.
He contributes some of the numbers going down to shelter in place orders which changed our behavior.
However, that does not mean we should rush back to the way things were.
“The virus can still spread very rapidly and very easily if we were to go back to life as we knew it before,” Stacey said.
Models of projected COVID-19 deaths have fluctuated over the last few months.
The latest numbers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show by August more than 140,000 Americans will have died from the virus.
Dr. Stacey says these are predictions based on an increase in human interaction over the next few months.
“Even if we start to have some businesses open and some activities reopen it doesn’t mean that we don’t still need to be very cautious in terms of how we interact with each other,” Stacey said.
Dr. Stacey added that the conditions have not really changed in terms of how the virus spreads.
It’s important for people to remain vigilant and continue following public health leaders, this way we’re keeping not only ourselves and our families safe but also our neighbors and the most vulnerable.
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