As you probably remember, the initial stay at home order that was first enacted in the City of Los Angeles was meant to last until the end of March. Shortly after, the county itself passed an order that was set to last until April 19. In what will hopefully be the last extension, last Friday a new measure was passed that sets the end day to May 15. These measures were taken as the number of cases in the county climbed past 8000. Los Angeles County has managed to gain relative control over the situation and enacted sufficient measures to help flatten the curve. This hopefully means that no further extensions will be necessary, but that doesn’t exactly imply that life will go back to normal on May 16.
The Stay at Home Order
The purpose of these stay at home measures was to restrict all non-essential work and activities. This was done in hopes to limit and contain the spread of COVID-19 across the county. The good news is this has been working. California is expected to be hitting the peak of the pandemic right now, well under the expected numbers. This is obviously good, for it means the measures in place were able to keep people at home and protected. It might be frustrating for the government to keep moving the finish line and pushing the end of this quarantine. However, we need to understand that these measures have been in place with our best interests in mind.
What Happens After May 15?
Well, let’s assume that the stay at home order isn’t pushed beyond May 15. Let’s say that at least this current form of the quarantine will be over and certain activities will resume. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we will all be able to go back to normal right after. Not just because precautions will still need to be taken until there is a widespread vaccine, but also because it will take a while for us to be comfortable around crowds and public spaces again. For example, it was recently estimated that larger gatherings such as concerts or conferences might not return until Fall 2021. It will take conscious behavior and social responsibility to make sure that we can go back to normal eventually.
