Social Distancing Measures Are Slowly Paying Off in Italy, San Francisco, and Elsewhere Around the World

Luca Richeldi, head of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, believes this trend proves that “through our behavior, we save lives.”

Italy has been in lockdown since March 9, and just extended it to April 12. According to Richeldi, the encouraging trends are reason to be hopeful, but cautions people not to let their guard down prematurely. The numbers, Richeldi said, are “a reason for us to be even stricter. We are in a very long battle.”

Italy isn’t the only country with good news to report. In Wuhan, China, the origin of the virus’ outbreak and once its largest hotspot, has just started reopening businesses. After a two-month lockdown, around 70-80 percent of shops in the city’s Chuhe Hanjie mall are open, though many now impose stricter limits on how many customers are allowed to enter at once.

Lockdowns and social distancing might not appear to be having any immediate effects in your community, but research shows that such measures have already prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide.

According to research conducted by Imperial College London, the social distancing efforts of 11 European nations may have already prevented 59,000 deaths up to March 31.

The United States is also seeing some encouraging signs, with San Francisco — one of the first US cities to commit to a full lockdown — experiencing a flatter curve than expected. Doctors at Bay Area hospitals are reporting fewer cases of COVID-19 than previously estimated by this point, due to the early implementation of social distancing measures.