Editorial: Digging into Marin’s COVID response helps improve future safety

It wasn’t that long ago that we were told to practice “social distancing,” separating ourselves from others by six feet.

Masks were the norm. All but “essential” businesses and workplaces were closed and restaurants had to rely on takeout orders as on-premises seating was forbidden.

Remember watching the Giants play in empty ballparks before only cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands?

The objective was to protect ourselves and others from contracting and spreading the COVID-19 virus, a deadly pandemic.

Four years later, the coronavirus is still around, but it is less lethal than the wake it left in the early years of the pandemic. Some are still wearing masks, but we are back in restaurants, movie theaters and stores.

In 2020, we had to learn how to best deal with the virus.

It had been more than a century since the Spanish flu pandemic. There weren’t any folks with experience still alive from that era to guide us in 2020.

But looking back, Marin residents endured, taking recommended and required safeguards seriously and then leading the state in vaccination rates.

Ninety-one percent of Marin’s residents received the primary series of vaccinations.

The rate was not easy to come by, but getting there was one of the many lessons learned, lessons that benefit us in facing other challenges.

For instance, getting the vaccine to Latinos in low-income households took extensive outreach, education and a building of trust.

Making sure the vaccine was available to all was essential to bringing its spread under control.

Working closely with community groups – providing funding for those efforts – made a big difference.

It worked.

Tragically, COVID-19 claimed 359 deaths in Marin. More than 3,600 residents were hospitalized. But those numbers are half the death rate seen across the state and far less than the rate nationwide.

As Dr. Matt Wills, the county’s public health officer, said in a recent forum, it could have been a lot worse.

The public health crisis led to important changes, such as strengthening communication, coordination and cooperation across Marin’s network of medical care providers.

Local schools have liaisons designated to stay connected with county public health officials.

Marin is also analyzing wastewater to help track the emergence of new viruses.

During the height of the pandemic, the county’s focus on public communication and education was key. It kept the community abreast of infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths. Its data clearly underscored the deadly threat to seniors, a large portion of Marin’s population and the spread of COVID-19 among young adults.

The data also pinpointed gaps in Marin’s public communication and medical care systems.

For instance, early in the pandemic, infection rates were disproportionately high in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood and its low-income residents. Some who were infected couldn’t afford to miss work or were “essential” workers. Getting those residents access to the vaccine took an intensive communitywide initiative that made a big difference.

Willis’ stable and science-driven leadership was also invaluable, striving to provide clarity to what were sometimes mixed messages on public health matters. Parents wanted their kids to get back to their classrooms. Businesses wanted to fully reopen. But Willis and his division were clear about the risks and requirements.

Even Willis wasn’t expecting the threat of the pandemic to last as long as it did. COVID-19 was a virus that rebounded and continues to evolve in ways that evade our immune systems, he said.

On March 15, the county’s public health division reported 12 people hospitalized in Marin with coronavirus, including one patient in intensive care.

There were many lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and those lessons leave us better prepared if there is another outbreak. Those lessons have also created stronger communication and coordination among local medical care providers and our schools.

The pandemic’s deadly wake and the societal upheaval it caused was a dark cloud, but to borrow a cliche, there is a silver lining.