Six months into coronavirus crisis, change, uncertainty, fatigue are the norm for many
In June, Hortencia Cabral was in favor of her twins going back to school if proper precautions were taken. She and her husband both work and a classroom seemed a better fit than remote learning for the 10-year-old boys.
Today, she’s not sure what to think.
In late June, Cabral lost a beloved uncle to COVID-19 and then her husband came down with the virus in July. He recovered in isolation at home but the grief and stress was difficult for Cabral.
Yet she still heard talk locally and nationally about COVID-19 as a hoax, no big deal, or similar to flu, and some were pushing for schools to reopen in August.
“I would like to go back to normal as quickly as possible but with a plan I can trust. Don’t tell me this is a hoax. If you start off with that then all your credibility is gone. I don’t trust anything you have to say because you think this is a joke. The idea of playing with people’s lives is not one I’m willing to gamble with,” she said.
As the medical community anticipates another surge in virus cases this winter, parents, business owners and the rest of us are stuck in limbo as life under COVID-19 drags on. Six months in, Kern County is at the tail end of a major outbreak that infected more than 30,000 people, resulted in more than 350 deaths and pushed the local health care system to the brink. With school back in session, albeit remotely, the holidays looming and a change in season underway, the contrast between life as it used to be and how it is now — disrupted, difficult and different for
so many — is stark.
Today, Cabral works from home in the morning to help her sons with any technical problems — or to break up a fight, as happened last week — then goes into the office for the afternoon when her husband comes home from his job.
Cabral feels lucky that her employer lets her work from home because so many other parents don’t have that option. But she worries about being able to do it all.
“I still feel like I’m being pulled in all different directions,” she said. “That’s hard because you do worry about your career and you want to make sure you’re not dropping the ball.
“That’s the reality of what’s going on in our community,” she said.
While a vaccine is on the horizon, local health experts predict a second surge in cases locally this winter, meaning the next six months will likely feel much like the last six months.
“Throughout Dignity Health, there’s a lot of discussion about ‘the resurgence,’” said Ken Keller, CEO of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, which along with Mercy and Mercy Southwest hospitals in Bakersfield, is part of the Dignity Health system.
Keller said the winter months from December through February are typically the hospital’s busiest time of the year due to flu, pneumonia and flare-ups in chronic pulmonary and heart conditions. When you add additional hospitalizations on top of that from COVID-19, Keller expects local hospitals will reach capacity again in the coming months as they did in late July.
Clinics and doctor’s offices will also likely be slammed with people who have respiratory symptoms wanting to get tested to find out if they have COVID-19, the flu or just a cold.
“Now with COVID, your workplace is not going to let you come if you have any kind of symptom. Your day care is going to send your kid home with any symptoms,” said Dr. Olga Meave, the chief medical officer for Clinica Sierra Vista, who predicted “a chaotic” winter ahead for health care providers.
“I think this season everyone is going to be so vigilant about everyone’s symptoms, it’s going to increase the people wanting testing,” Meave said.
Even if a vaccine is developed soon, Meave hears every day from patients who are skeptical about taking it. She thinks it will take some time for the vaccine to have an impact.
“A lot of my patients say, ‘I’m not going to get it right away, I’m going to wait and see if it works,’” Meave said. “There’s fear.”
In the wider community, there is concern that pandemic fatigue is setting in. After a long summer of restrictions, and with cooler weather and the holidays approaching, the temptation to throw caution to the wind will be strong. But public health officials say the only hope of containing the virus requires continued vigilance: avoiding gatherings, socially distancing, wearing a mask, washing hands.
“I think just the amount of change we’re all having to deal with — initially, all at once and now over time — has been incredibly stressful for people,” said Michelyn Devine, a licensed clinical psychologist with Kaiser Permanente in Bakersfield.
People have grown tired of the demands brought on by the pandemic, whether it’s avoiding the virus or juggling kids and working from home, not going out or partaking of regular activities.
Devine worries that simply cautioning people not to gather for Halloween or other upcoming holidays won’t be enough.
“The need to celebrate and connect with people is still there and people do far better if there’s an alternative than if you’re just taking it away all together,” she said.
She is paying attention to ideas for how families with kids can celebrate Halloween in a safe way so she can encourage her patients to still enjoy the day. She also encourages many of the people she works with to avoid information overload by limiting social media and news consumption and reminds them that everyone is going through this even though it feels like a lonely time.
“I try to normalize that we are all in this together and no one is an expert in this. The anxiety, while uncomfortable, is pretty normal and what we would expect. We just need to help figure out ways to manage it,” Devine said.
For Heather Laganelli, owner of the popular downtown lunch spot Locale, managing uncertainty and the unknown has come in the form of innovating and finding creative ways to keep her restaurant going the past six months.
“We’re still in the whole grind of trying to figure out how to stay relevant and in business and keep the doors open. Every day, it’s a numbers game figuring out labor costs and figuring out how to get people to come in. We’re just doing our best,” she said.
In an effort to adapt, Laganelli has opened a pickup window, expanded the restaurant’s hours, purchased an awning to create more outdoor seating
and recently invested in a new computer system, including an upcoming mobile app to make it easier to handle takeout orders.
But she’s had to reduce staff from 12 to six, seating capacity has gone from more than 100 to about 30, and with no events happening, her catering orders have completely dried up. All the new requirements for sanitizing and preventing the spread of infection are more laborintensive and costly, she said. People tell her the restaurant seems to be doing well but business remains way below normal and she’s gone into debt trying to adapt and adjust to new restrictions.
Despite the hardships, the move to outdoor dining has come with a sort of silver lining, she said. On a recent day, she took in the scene at her restaurant: she had hired a musician to play music on the restaurant’s patio and the outdoor tables were full of diners eating and listening to music, even in 100-degree heat.
“When you see people eating outside it creates this feeling of something happening, this oldschool vibe of community and connection and people and humanity,” she said.
“There’s a lot of normalcy in a restaurant for people,” she said. “Sitting out on a patio listening to live music, even though it’s 100 degrees, it just makes you feel kind of normal, you know.”
When the winter months roll around, she hopes people will be equally tolerant of the cool weather and continue to dine outdoors.
“Worst-case scenario, we will offer blankets,” she said. “For one-time use and then we’ll wash them.”
In the wider community, there is concern that pandemic fatigue is setting in. After a long summer of restrictions, and with cooler weather and the holidays approaching, the temptation to throw caution to the wind will be strong. But public health officials say the only hope of containing the virus requires continued vigilance: avoiding gatherings, socially distancing, wearing a mask, washing hands.