The coronavirus pandemic has changed communities in many ways, and for the doctor who helped lead Orange County through its darkest periods of illness, among the most important has been the lasting changes seen in the public health system.
Dr. Clayton Chau, who was the county’s public health officer through much of the pandemic and remains today the director of its OC Health Care Agency, announced this week he will be leaving as of June 1, timing his decision to take some time to address his own mental health to the upcoming end to the federal public health emergency declared when COVID-19 began its destructive spread across communities.
Looking back at the last three years, Chau said the “frail infrastructure” of the public health system was flipped on its head by the global health emergency. And though the official declaration of a pandemic emergency is sent to end here in the U.S., COVID-19 will continue to be around for a few years and people need to continue to protect themselves.
Just two weeks ago, Orange County surpassed 8,000 COVID-19-related deaths reported; on Thursday 16 people were in Orange County intensive care units because of the virus.
“We’re doing great, (COVID-19) is definitely on the wane,” said Andrew Noymer, a UC Irvine professor of population health and disease prevention, but added that the virus “at some low level …is going to be the new normal.”
In preparing for this “new normal,” Chau said he is pushing his team at the OC Health Care Agency to continue to raise awareness and educate the community on how to protect one’s self and the county’s most vulnerable populations from the virus, as well as emphasize the effects of “Long COVID.”
Post-COVID-19 symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue and headaches can persist for weeks, months or even years after infection. Health professionals are learning how to treat these Long COVID conditions, which Chau said is affecting about 25% to 30% of people who have…
Read the full article here
