Covid-19 cases in the United States have begun to drop tremendously in the past month. Los Angeles County has reported 20 new cases for every 100,000 people, however, it still remains in the purple tier, which is the highest color tier (The Downey Patriot). Hospitalizations in the past month have also dropped at least 50% and at least 10% of adults have been vaccinated since December (The Atlantic). 

Sylvia Cabrales, teacher and mother, takes the drops in cases as a positive change to the community. She wants to return to her classroom and hopes for the best safety available for students and staff. Cabrales thinks it will bring more opportunities for many school districts in Los Angeles County and help for better one-on-one learning.

“It’s just a great hope for cases to drop,” Cabrales said. “It makes returning to normal routines possible for everyone and makes it seem in reach for us.”

Downey High School sophomore, Haily Cameros, thinks that job opportunities will flourish if businesses reopen. It can help those in desperate need and help them regain economic stability. She believes that families who have struggled throughout the past year have job sources to look forward to.

“Covid cases dropping affects the community greatly because there are a lot of low-income families that need help and need to go back to work in order to provide,” Cameros said. “With cases dropping, they could go back to work and do what they did before covid.”

Zahid Hernandez, Downey High School sophomore, takes case decreases as risky because it can cause another surge in infection rates. People might lower their guard in precaution now that cases are lower and Hernandez believes they should still be careful.

“I’d say with the covid cases dropping more people think it’s safe to go outside and hang out with friends. I’ve noticed that more and more people won’t wear their masks anymore when in stores or just when I’m running at the park,” Hernandez said. “People are taking the drop in cases lightly and disregarding the fact that they could rise again and any point in time.”

The cause for case decrease can be linked to multiple reasons such as vaccines and safety precautions. The Practice of social distancing and wearing masks in public might be the cause of the drop. Vaccinations have seemed to show progress as well as 70% of hospitalizations have been of people 50 years and over which have died down). Doctors and medics remain hopeful that Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will continue to show results in upcoming months to stop the spread.

The slowness of the exponential growth has been a shock to many across the country and has shown optimism for future jobs, education, and health concerns.