Report from LA 7/29/20
We got out of town for a long weekend and it was an extraordinary relief to be away for a short bit from the California epicenter of the Covid 19 epidemic. Further north, it felt as if there is more mask wearing, more social distancing and a greater consciousness about safety and community. Much is still shut down, and the weekend trails and beaches are filled up with people getting out of the city.
Back here in LA, the deaths are down, the testing is up, the positivity is down a notch, hospitalizations are holding steady, and there are ample supplies of equipment. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/coronavirus/data/index.htm# We are still at a high level of disease and spread, and it feels as if people are taking it seriously. You can’t get tested unless you are already sick or at high risk by occupation or disease profile. Results are still very slow.
The pandemic’s growth rate in LA looks as if it is moving out of the lower income communities and into the higher income neighborhoods, and it is still growing fastest among the 18-40 year olds. The Central Valley, one of the biggest breadbaskets of the world, is now where the disease is spreading fastest, joining the Imperial Valley where the area hospitals are swamped and beyond capacity to care for the sick.
From what I read, we are in for it at least through next March when vaccines might be both developed and widely available. We’ll have to see by then if the distribution is equitable.
Love and safety to all.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 7/29/20