Editorial: As Bay Area reopens, need for coronavirus safety vigilance remains
The Bay Area’s success in slowing the spread of the coronavirus reflects residents’ collective, sensible response to public health officers’ shelter-in-place orders. The region should take great pride in setting a national model that has saved thousands of lives. But this is no time for complacency. As businesses start reopening, the need for widespread compliance with, and enforcement of, social distancing requirements has never been greater. COVID-19 has not disappeared. We’re dealing with an aggressive and deadly virus that will take full advantage of opportunities to spread. If we relax our standards, we risk a second wave that could be worse than the first. No one wants that. Yet, we continue to witness instances where fundamental safety orders are ignored: • Supermarkets failing to enforce requirements that individuals wear masks while grocery shopping. • Construction workers ignoring rules to stay six feet apart during work, coffee breaks and lunch breaks — and failing to don masks when they must get closer. • Delivery drivers and hardware store workers with no face coverings when delivering products to customers. • Beachgoers, partiers, and basketball players acting as if…