West Hollywood Council Member John Duran has been posting a daily COVID-19 update on his personal Facebook page, which he keeps open to the general public. His commentary on the current coronavirus pandemic delivers stats through his personal stream of consciousness in the hopes to engage the community on the ongoing effort to flatten the curve.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a Facebook page. Council member Duran is allowing us to share his COVID-19 update with our readers.
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Daily Update Wednesday, April 29, 2020
LA County Cases 20,976 (up from 20,417)
LA County Deaths 1000 (up from 942)
Are we moving forward too fast given that we hit 1000 deaths?
Are we moving too slow given that the economy is being crushed?
Speed it up! Slow it down! Do something! Refrain from doing something!
The 2 polarized sides push and pull us all back and forth daily. Time for a little more light (facts) and a little less heat (emotions).
Yes. We hit 1000 deaths in a county of 10 million people. New York City has 12,509 deaths. 1000 deaths is significant. And it could be far worse.
Yes. LA County has one half of all COVID19 hospitalizations. We are the most populous county and represent 1/4 of the state’s population. But 1/2 of all our county deaths are in institutional settings (congregate living facilities, nursing homes, etc). We need more focus and resources directed here.
Yes. Our number of confirmed cases is now over 21,000. Reality – it is much higher but we don’t know how wide because we still don’t have adequate and reliable testing available. Fauci says end of May or early June until we will have enough access to testing to help guide our decision making.
March did seem to move by quickly with every horrible headline at the beginning of the reported crisis (crisis probably started last year but we didn’t know it). And then April seemed to drag on forever as every day looked the same while we were in isolation. But what about May? May 1st is Friday (for those of us who have lost all track of time).
We are going to slowly reopen.
GOVERNOR Newsom’s 4 stages:
STAGE ONE – Expand testing, make workplaces safe for return and PPE expanded.
STAGE TWO – Potential opening of some retail, schools, manufacturing, offices, public spaces, parks with social distancing and PPE.
STAGE THREE – Potential opening of higher risk businesses including gyms, hair salons, movie theaters, churches and synagogues, bars and nightclubs with social distancing and PPE.
STAGE FOUR – Potential opening of highest risk businesses like concerts, convention centers, sporting events.
We are currently in stage one. We are now planning for stage two. And while we are doing this, the number of cases and deaths will continue to rise. We would only cut back if there are significant exponential increases in either category that would suggest we are moving too fast. And I know while this is all happening, there will be critics on both ends saying we are going TOO FAST and TOO SLOW. But we must move forward even with Shadow among us.
For West Hollywood, in a few weeks, I anticipate that some of our hotels will go back on line. Our office towers will once again slowly be occupied. Our public parks and dog parks will re open with social distancing requirements and PPE. Our restaurants will slowly start to re open with more emphasis on take out/delivery and curbside pick ups.
West Hollywood is run by our City Manager and CEO Paul Arevalo. He runs the city with guidance from the 5 council members. But we can only move as fast as the LA County Department of Public Health permits us. They regulate all food and beverage licenses. We will have to get the green light from the county on restaurants and bars. Once they give us the green light, we can set up unique tailored guidelines and regulations for our businesses.
It’s going to be a bit chaotic as State, County and City governments attempt to move forward and re-open. The Governor has laid out the 4 phases I listed above in this post. The County will green light us on food/beverage licenses and general public health. And we will figure out what is best for our city. As will the other 87 cities in LA County.
Not so fast. And not so slow. Somewhere in between with science and reason as our guides. Bring it on May. We are not as prepped as we should be. But we are ready nonetheless.
or more of Duran’s Daily COVID-19 Update posts visit: https://www.facebook.com/John.Jude.Duran.
