PITTSBURGH BUSINESS TIMES - Doctors say the state’s new mitigation efforts will help blunt the accelerating Covid-19 cases in Pennsylvania and, eventually, ease the strain on hospitals and health systems dealing with not only a crush of critically ill coronavirus patients but also all the other urgent and life-threatening conditions they treat in normal time.
Dr. Mark Roberts, a professor of health policy and management and director of the Public Health Dynamics Laboratory, said the Wolf administration’s new restrictions will help to reduce the spread of Covid-19. “My personal opinion, they might have done it even earlier than they’ve done it because to me the massive increase in cases has been pretty consistent,” Roberts said. “We knew it was going to get worse after Thanksgiving, and it has.
He said so many Covid-19 cases have contact tracing difficult, but it has found that small gatherings, restaurants, and person-to-person contact have been the reason for a lot of transmission. “We have to close those down until we get enough of the vaccine around and enough people who are immune to stop the transmission," said Roberts, adding that there are ways to mitigate the impact on businesses.
Pitt’s advanced simulation system, called FRED, indicates stricter physical distancing regulations can essentially eliminate the virus from spreading within two months.”
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12/15/2020