Apr 23, 2020 2 min read

Even though deaths and new cases have increased, state-mandated business lockdowns and physical distancing appear finally to be “flattening the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rate of infection has slowed in Pennsylvania, New York and most other places, allowing a ray of optimism that had been as rare as sunshine in a Northeast Pennsylvania February.

Adding to the hope is Gilead Science’s announcement that its drug remdesivir, which it developed to fight Ebola, had proved to be effective against COVID-19 in a clinical trial conducted by University of Chicago Medicine.

And, researchers at Oxford University, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research, and several other research centers around the world have said they have developed promising vaccines.

Such hope is deeply welcome in a nation wracked by health and economic anxiety. And now, several governors, including Gov. Tom Wolf, have rolled out plans to restart business activity and diminish the staggering unemployment caused by the pandemic.

But normalcy remains well beyond the near horizon. Recovery plans still preclude large gatherings and, therefore, much of the social activity to which Americans are accustomed, from dining out to sports events and concerts.

Vigilance – wearing masks in public places, maintaining physical distance, sound hygiene and especially vigorous hand-washing – remain crucial to finally defeating the virus.

Likewise, test-derived data are crucial to further steering the scope and speed of the recovery.

The nature of the contagion also has ensured that the nation’s social and economic recovery from it would be incremental. As hope rises for the opening phases of that recovery, it is as important as ever to maintain vigilance, comply with best practices and gather the needed data.