El Tecolote Vol. 51 Issue 12

Page 1

FREE//GRATUITO

PUBLISHED BY ACCIÓN LATINA

Vol. 51 No. 12

June 17-30, 2021

AS CALIFORNIA REOPENS, 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT COVID-19 6 ASPECTOS A SABER SOBRE EL COVID-19 TRAS LA REAPERTURA DE CALIFORNIA Ana B. Ibarra

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Ana B. Ibarra

CalMatters

ifteen months after Californians faced their first COVID-19 stay-at-home order, most mandates were lifted on June 14. And what a journey it’s been — just months ago, hospitals were overwhelmed with severely sick people seeking scarce beds. But while California’s outlook is brighter, COVID-19 remains a very real threat. Even though the state’s infection rate and hospitalizations are at an all-time low, the pandemic isn’t over. People are still dying from COVID-19, just at lower rates than six months ago. Restrictions like physical distancing and mask-wearing offered some protection to people who have not yet been vaccinated, and now that most of those are going away, infections are expected to start rising, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, an epidemiologist at University of California, San Francisco. As of Friday, 54.6% of eligible Californians — everyone 12 and older — have been fully vaccinated. Another 11% have received one dose. But as vaccine demand fades, public health officials worry how new infections will play out among those not yet protected. Will the state see another uptick in cases? Who is vulnerable and where? Here are six things you should know about where infections, deaths and vaccinations stand today. Infections and hospitalizations are down, but not gone At the peak of the pandemic, 17% of people in California tested for COVID-19 were infected. For about a month now, it’s been under 1%. Last week, California recorded between 792 to 1,136 new infections every day. That’s comparable to the early days of the pandemic last spring. Hospitalizations also have been on a downward trend for several months. As of Friday, 1,263 people statewide were hospitalized with COVID-19 and another 261 were in intensive care. During the mid-January peak, more than 22,000 infected people were hospitalized and more than 4,800 were in ICUs. It’s a new record low: Hospitalizations are now less than half what they were in mid-October, when around 3,000 infected people were hospitalized, according to the 14-day average. At one point in the winter, nearly two dozen counties had fewer than 10 available ICU beds. In many cases, hospitals had to turn away patients or transfer them to hospitals hundreds of miles away. The tragedies, however, remain. Fifty-five more people were added Friday to California’s pandem-

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El día de la reapertura en California, el martes 15 de junio de 2021, se eliminó la mayoría de las principales restricciones de la COVID, y en Philz Coffee de la Misión, mientras todos los empleados continuaban portando cubrebocas, los clientes, en su mayoría optaron por no usarlas. On California’s Reopening Day, Tuesday June 15, 2021, most major COVID restrictions were lifted, and at Philz coffee in the Mission, while all employees continued wearing masks, customers inside the cafe for the most part opted not wear them. Photo: Mabel Jiménez ic death toll, which now includes 62,593 people. In the past few weeks, California has recorded among the lowest numbers in daily COVID-19 deaths, with numbers similar to April 2020. California isn’t close yet to herd immunity About two-thirds of eligible residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. And as the governor likes to remind us, California has administered almost 16 million more doses than the next most populous state, Texas. State health officials don’t set a vaccination goal for herd or community immunity, since children under 12 — 15% of the population — cannot yet be vaccinated and previously infected people may already be protected. But experts say that 70% to 85% of the total population must be fully vaccinated to reach large-scale protection against the virus. The state tracks vaccination progress for those eligible by county. As of last week, Marin County led with 75% vaccinated among its 12 and older population. Lassen County ranked last with 22%. The top six counties with the highest percentage of vaccinated populations are in the Bay Area.

El martes 15 de junio de 2021, el día en que California retiró la mayoría de las principales restricciones de la COVID, en el salón Texture Barber & Beauty en la calle 24, los empleados siguieron portando cubrebocas mientras atendían a la clientela y, ésta, en su mayoría, también continuó usándolas. On California’s Reopening Day, Tuesday June 15, 2021, most major COVID restrictions were lifted, and at Texture Barber & Beauty salon on 24th Street, all employees continued wearing masks while working on customers and most customers continued to wear them. Photo: Mabel Jiménez

past surges, when labs were overwhelmed with tests and hospitals exceeded their capacity. “Let’s not forget that this is an ongoing pandemic,” said Andrew Noymer, epidemiologist at University of California, Irvine. For example, “in Orange County, Latino males are lagging in vaccination, so that is a group that is still at risk,” he said. Outbreaks are still possible Come fall or winter, it is likely Experts say another wave of infecthe state will see another wave of intions is possible. But they add that fections, he said. it probably won’t be as severe as the

Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health and human services secretary, said he expects to see outbreaks, especially in counties with lower vaccination rates. “It’s at those moments of an outbreak that we need to be ready to vaccinate additional people,” he said. That also means smaller, rural counties may still run the risk of overflowing their hospital systems if they experience an outbreak. “We know capacity is least in rural counSee REOPENING, page 10

CalMatters

uince meses después de que los californianos enfrentaran su primera orden de confinamiento tras la COVID-19, la mayoría de los mandatos se han levantado este martes. Y qué viaje ha sido: hace apenas unos meses, los hospitales estaban atiborrados por personas gravemente enfermas que buscaban camas escasas. Pero aunque la perspectiva de California es más brillante, el COVID-19 sigue siendo una amenaza real: pese a que la tasa de infección y las hospitalizaciones en el estado están en un mínimo histórico, la pandemia no ha terminado. La gente todavía está muriendo por este virus, solo las tasas son más bajas que hace seis meses. Las restricciones como el distanciamiento físico y el uso de cubrebocas ofrecieron cierta protección a las personas que aún no han sido vacunadas, y ahora cuando la mayoría de ellas están por dejar de portarse, se espera que las infecciones vuelvan a aumentar, dijo la médico Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, epidemióloga de la Universidad de California en San Francisco. Hasta el viernes, el 54.6% de los californianos en edades de 12 años o más, se han vacunado por completo. Otro 11% ha recibido una dosis. Pero a medida que la demanda de vacunas se desvanece, los funcionarios de salud pública se preocupan por cómo se desarrollarán las nuevas infecciones entre los que aún no están protegidos. ¿Verá el estado otro repunte en los casos? ¿Quién es vulnerable y dónde? Aquí hay seis aspectos que debe saber sobre la situación actual de las infecciones, las muertes y las vacunas. Las infecciones y las hospitalizaciones han disminuido, pero no han desaparecido En el pico de la pandemia, el 17% de las personas en California a las que se les hizo la prueba del COVID-19 estaban infectadas. Desde hace aproximadamente un mes, ha estado por debajo del 1%. La semana pasada, California registró entre 792 y 1,136 nuevas infecciones al día. Eso es comparable a los primeros días de la pandemia la primavera pasada. Las hospitalizaciones también han tenido una tendencia a la baja durante varios meses. Hasta el viernes, 1,263 personas en todo el estado estaban hospitalizadas por el COVID-19 y otras 261 estaban en cuidados intensivos. Durante el pico de mediados de enero, más de 22 mil personas infectadas fueron hospitalizadas y más de 4,800 estuvieron en la unidad de cuidados intensivos. Vea REAPERTURA, página 9


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