Restrictions Are Slowing Coronavirus Infections, New Data Suggest

As California’s Bay Area is weeks into its shelter-in-place order – the first in the nation – experts are seeing indications that it’s working in the fight against COVID19, but at the same time needs to continue. Health officials are seeing signs that the increase of cases could be flattening, which was the goal of social distancing, and has been giving the area more time to prepare for a spike, which other experts say is inevitable. Either way, the stay-at-home mandate is helping reduce strain on the healthcare system.

By rapidly instituting mandatory testing of all inmates at a covid-19-stricken federal prison and segregating ill inmates, authorities reduced the number of new infections within weeks. At one point, nearly 70% of the inmates at the Terminal Island federal prison in San Pedro, California, had tested positive for the coronavirus as it raced through a facility where inmates normally interact constantly in crowded communal areas. As of mid-May, eight inmates had died and more than 500 had recovered.

As the U.S attempts to reopen, restaurant owners from California to Florida are expanding their restaurants into nearby outdoor space, including sidewalks and parking lots. In doing so, they are able to offer patrons a safer dining environment, as there is more room to keep tables further apart and follow social distancing precautions, and it also helps restaurants earn more revenue than if they were limited to indoor space. Some city governments are streamlining the process, including Brookhaven, Georgia, which made it free to access short-term permits for outdoor dining.

Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes share land, and despite previous disagreements, they collaborated to create one of the state's most effective coronavirus testing clinics. 3,000 people from both tribes have been tested, about 30% of all tests done in Wyoming. The two nations have also helped residents, impacted by casino closures and sharp drops in oil and gas revenues, with special hunting seasons, food supply distributions, and providing quarantine housing. More testing has meant higher cases identified, which has led some to create a narrative blaming Native people for the spread of the virus.

The coronavirus made cramped or high-risk polling locations untenable so at least 39 sports arenas have opened up their facilities for voting. Their expansive size allows them to welcome large numbers of voters while maintaining social distancing protocols. Many are outdoors, which lowers the risk of transmitting the virus even further. Prompted by calls from athletes, arena owners’ site the summer’s racial-justice demonstrations as inspiration for supplying the spaces since voting is a key way to create definitive changes. Voters were thrilled to cast their ballots in a sports arena.

Disaster preparedness in the form of close inter-agency coordination and communication helped Cuyahoga County, Ohio, protect its unhoused population from COVID-19 to a greater extent than Lane County, Oregon. Although Cuyahoga (Cleveland) is larger, with more resources, its effective responses still offer a model to Lane County (Eugene), where a scattered approach and homeless-camp sweeps proved counterproductive. In Cleveland, hotels were quickly enlisted to house people, reducing crowding in shelters by half and street homelessness by 30%. Its largest men's shelter ended up with a low infection rate.

During the pandemic, indigenous communities received massive federal funding through the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and the Relief and Economic Security Act for a number of needs, like infrastructure and tribal housing improvements. Many indigenous entities received smaller funds too. But COVID exacerbated several long-pending and neglected issues, local officials and tribal members say, and the funding does not sufficiently address them in the longterm.

Several companies are beginning to lean into the four-day workweek. It is also being seen as a new recruiting tool that resonates with a younger generation that prioritizes work-life balance. There are even nonprofits like 4 Day Week Global, that are coordinating pilot programs across the globe to encourage more companies to adopt a 32-hour workweek with no cut in pay.

With an influx of COVID relief money, the Russellville school district began hiring and certifying more local, Spanish-speaking staff to help teach English language learners. Districtwide, the percentage of students who met their language proficiency goals increased from 46% in 2019 to 61% in 2022.

The solar-powered freezer donated by Green Life Energy allows vaccines to be stored at the appropriate temperature, providing more access to necessary immunizations, specifically for those in rural communities. Nurses say the freezer box has the capacity to hold up to 500 doses of different vaccines, including polio, measles, tuberculosis, and the COVID-19 vaccine.