Four years since California declared a Covid emergency

What a long four years it has been.

It was March 4, 2020 when Governor Gavin Newsom declared the state of emergency in response to the new coronavirus.

Fifty people in California had tested positive for the virus by then and one death had been reported in the state. Schools and businesses initially remained open; most people had never heard of a stay-at-home order. That wouldn’t be announced for another two weeks.

Today, Covid has not disappeared and the highly contagious virus continues to circulate and sometimes emerge. And the toll is dire: Some 112,000 Californians have died from Covid. The virus has caused fatalities nationwide 1.18 million people. At the height of the recent surge in January, 2,400 people were dying from the disease every week.

As many experts predicted in the spring of 2020, Covid has become something people have had to learn to live with. The virus still appears to be surging in the summer and winter, but layers of protection from vaccines, previous infections and antiviral treatments have made hospitalizations and death much less likely. According to the Center for Disease Control and PreventionIn the second half of 2023, 98 percent of people aged 16 and over had Covid antibodies, compared to 21 percent in January 2021.

Covid approximately 75,000 deaths people in the country last year, when it was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. Things were even worse in 2021, when the virus killed 450,000 people and was the third leading cause of death.

The virus remains dangerous and infection carries the risk not only of acute symptoms, but also of developing long-term Covid-19, with problems lasting months or even years. But the sharp decline in deaths from the virus led to a loosening of pandemic restrictions last year, when California lifted its emergency order, and so did federal officials.

On Friday, the CDC announced a further relaxation of Covid rules, saying people who have tested positive for the virus will no longer need to isolate for five days if they are otherwise feeling well. The recommended isolation period was ten days at the start of the pandemic, and five for the past two years.

The federal rule change follows a similar move by California officials in January. Scientists backing the shift said Covid was no longer an acute public health crisis but had become more of a signature virus among a range of respiratory risks. They said the benefits of strict isolation no longer outweigh the costs of missed school, work and income for asymptomatic people.

“The emergency is over,” said Dr. Melissa Sutton, medical director for respiratory viral pathogens at the Oregon Health Authority, to my colleagues. “Covid-19 is endemic. We are in a different phase.”

For more:

• Amid all the turmoil caused by the pandemic, there have been moments of hope and positive change. What were your pandemic silver linings? Tell us at CAtoday@nytimes.com.

• Your 2024 guide to Covid symptoms and treatment.

• How to get the most out of your Covid test at home.

Tell us

We are in the process of putting together ours California soundtrack for years, and have recorded most of the hits. Which songs do you think still need to be added?

Tell us at CAtoday@nytimes.com. Include your name, the city you live in, and a few sentences explaining why you think your song deserves to be included.

And before you go: good news

Of all the images that have come to represent Los Angeles – the Hollywood sign, the pink terrazzo stars on the sidewalk, the Dodgers logo – perhaps the most iconic is the palm.

Palm trees (technically they’re not trees, but that doesn’t matter) are ubiquitous in the city, lining the main avenues and quiet streets. Their elegant arching silhouettes have become a metaphor in the popular imagination for the Golden State and its golden dream.

In an article for LAist, Zoie Matthew looks at the symbolic plant, its history in LA and the debate over whether palms, which can pose a fire hazard, should have a future in the city.

Palms were first brought to the city by Spanish missionaries in the 18th century, but they were not widely planted in the city until the early days of the Great Depression, as the city prepared to host the 1932 Summer Olympics and 25,000 palms were planted. under an unemployment relief program, Matthew wrote.

Today, a number of palm species are seen in the city, but the three most common, according to Matthew, are the Mexican fan palms, which can grow up to 30 meters tall and have fan-like leaves; California fan palms, which are broader and have spiny leaves; and date palms from the Canary Islands, which have trunks whose surface resembles the skin of a pineapple.

Learn about LA’s most famous palms and read the full article here.

Thank you for reading. I’ll come back tomorrow. — Soumya

PS Here it is today’s mini crossword.

Maia Coleman and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team via CAtoday@nytimes.com.

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