2nd Wave of COVID-19 Might Have Come to the US But It’s Not Due to Them Reopening

The one fear I have post Phase One kind of goes like this.

What if once more people start going out, the virus will quickly spread again and the case numbers go up.

If the virus evolves, are we all doomed?

Are we going to get a walking dead situation happening as the months come?!

Excuse my paranoia.

Still, it never hurts to still be careful even after reopening. This virus won’t slow down for anyone.

The Case Of The US

Or if you’re in some parts of America, the virus might scarily be speeding up.

According to Bloomberg, several states are experiencing massive spikes in the spread of COVID-19.

Texas on 10 June reported 2504 new cases, the highest number of new cases in one day since the pandemic began.

A month into its reopening, Florida this week reported 8,553 new cases — the most of any seven-day period.

These are just some numbers amongst other areas.

In fact, all of these add up to the US having the highest number of COVID-19 cases.

Two million cases, to round off.

Image: Giphy

That’s more than a third of Singapore’s population, mind you.

Not to mention a total of 112,000 deaths as well.

Based on states like Florida’s, it’s pretty easy to pass judgement and say that the state reopening played a large factor in the new cases.

But some people think that it may not be the case.

Multiple Potential Factors

Let’s take a look at a few situations.

In March, the state of California passed a stay home order.

Since then, San Francisco saw zero cases for three consecutive days this week while Los Angeles County reported well half of the state’s new cases.

Got you thinking? Now let me present you with something a bit more familiar.

The George Floyd Protests.

Image: news.abs-cbn.com

With mass gatherings of people spanning over two weeks, there’s high possibility protestors and police alike could have gotten infected.

Not to mention with the rallies still going on even now.

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Over in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo also acknowledges that reopening states could cause issues, but mentions it can be controlled.

“Just because you reopen does not mean you will have a spike, but if you are not smart, you can have a spike.”

Then you have a state like Arizona, which spiked to 1187 cases on 2 June.

Its city of Phoenix has seen hospital beds fill so fast the capacity reached 87% and half of those are from COVID-19 cases.

Image: Knowyourmeme.com

One medical officer stated that it could be due to how relaxed the city is in response to the virus. He mentioned not wanting to wear masks and maintaining social distancing to be a huge factor.

“People are coming together in environments where social distancing is challenging.”

Testing Is Catching Up

This is another thought-provoking theory.

California closed pretty early since San Francisco Bay had one of the earliest virus outbreaks. They’re also one of the slower few to reopen.

However, the number of cases have started climbing again, although officials think that it’s due to increased testing, saying it’s a sign of preparation.

So it is possible that the virus count was always high, but it only shows up now because more tests are being done.

Image: Giphy

Whichever the case, the virus definitely seems to be attacking strong this second wave. We can only hope those in the US will stay safe as much as possible.

And for us, we too need to take care during Phase One. Even if we do somehow transit into early Phase Two, hygiene and distancing measures should still be practised.

Meanwhile, enjoy work from home while we can.