After nearly three years, California ends its “State of Emergency.” An infectious disease expert joins us to reflect on the last three years of the pandemic and revisit some of the conversations we’d had with him over that time. Also, a look at what a post-pandemic California will look like even as the virus continues to impact our daily lives.
State of Emergency ends
It has been a long, arduous, confusing, frustrating, and certainly stressful three years with COVID-19. But today, there is a significant change and possibly a renewed sense of hope even symbolic for Californians as the state’s emergency declaration expires. Many of the rules, regulations, laws, and things that changed our way of life for the past three years are sunsetting. While the state’s emergency declaration is officially ending, the fact remains that COVID is still with us. California has just marked 100-thousand lives lost to COVID, according to state health authorities. So, what now? How do we all move forward? What lessons have we learned about medicine? Our response? The government’s response? and ourselves? On today's Insight, we are marking the end of the emergency declaration with a show dedicated to looking forward, but also reflecting on the past. And since the very beginning, there was one voice we consistently sought to help explain both the concerning and hopeful developments with the virus and provide some context in a frank but reassuring manner. That person is Dr. Dean Blumberg, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Health. Dr. Blumberg shared his reflections on the past three years not only as an infectious disease expert but also as a person.
Available resources
Janelle Salanga, CapRadio’s Northern California reporter, and Heath Care reporter Kate Wolffe, join Insight to share their work on what happens now that the COVID emergency declaration in California has expired three years after the pandemic hit. From lessons learned, to where to find a COVID test, and how insurance will change moving forward, we’ll discuss what a California after the state of emergency’s end will look like even as the virus continues to spread and impact our daily lives.
