{"id":21335,"date":"2020-07-14T20:31:12","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T20:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=21335"},"modified":"2020-07-19T14:05:13","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T14:05:13","slug":"while-coronavirus-cases-spike-in-the-south-the-northeast-seems-to-have-it-under-control-heres-what-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/while-coronavirus-cases-spike-in-the-south-the-northeast-seems-to-have-it-under-control-heres-what-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"While coronavirus cases spike in the South, the Northeast seems to have it under control – here’s what changed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taison Bell<\/a>, University of Virginia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHospital Capacity Crosses Tipping Point in U.S. Coronavirus Hot Spots<\/a>\u201d \u2013 Wall Street Journal<\/p>\n

This is a headline I hoped to not see again after the number of coronavirus infections had finally started to decline in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest. However, the pandemic has now shifted to the South and the West \u2013 with Arizona, Florida, California and Texas as hot spots.<\/p>\n

At the same time, cases, hospitalizations and the percentage of positive tests in Northeastern states have declined<\/a>. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently declared<\/a>, \u201cWe now have the lowest transmission rate in the United States of America.\u201d In fact, there are now more daily hospitalizations in Arizona<\/a> than in New York, Pennsylvania and the entire Northeast combined.<\/p>\n

What explains the difference?<\/p>\n

My physician colleagues and I have learned a lot since a mysterious respiratory virus first appeared in mainland China over six months ago. We can now rattle off stats about the coronavirus as if we were sports commentators. It spreads through droplets and aerosols<\/a>. It binds to ACE-2 receptors<\/a> in the lungs. It can last on certain surfaces up to 72 hours<\/a>. It can cause loss of taste and smell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We could go on and on if you pressed us, but the most important thing we have learned is how it spreads and how to slow it down. A critical piece of that \u2013 and a key difference between the Northeast today and many of the areas where coronavirus is spreading now \u2013 is people\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n

Hard-hit states quickly learned value of masks<\/h2>\n

As a respiratory virus, SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted mainly through droplets that leave the mouth and nose as a person talks, sneezes, coughs or exhales. It thrives in environments where there are lots of people in enclosed spaces \u2013 especially if they are laughing, talking, singing<\/a> or otherwise coming into close contact. It thrives physically in the same settings where we thrive socially.<\/p>\n

This is why the early hard-hit areas were able to crush the curve by closing businesses and implementing stay-at-home orders. Without significant close human interaction, the coronavirus couldn\u2019t spread.<\/p>\n

While other states are now seeing hospitals fill with COVID-19 patients, most of the Northeast is maintaining control of community spread as its economies reopen. The difference reflects, at least in part, each state\u2019s behavior expectations and the willingness of residents to keep up safety precautions like wearing masks, avoiding large crowds, maintaining social distance of at least six feet and staying isolated when they are ill or may have been exposed to the virus.<\/p>\n

[Deep knowledge, daily.<\/em> Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter<\/a>.]<\/p>\n