Every day, my child asks, "Have we reached our peak? Have we passed the peak?"

Embedded in this question is an assumption that I believe he shares with many people.

The assumption is that the epi curve (the graph of the daily case counts) will have a predictable shape.

He, like many, expects that the curve will rise, top off, and then fall, fall, fall.

Two things to remember:

-even when we have "passed the peak," there are many cases in the community, incl those counted and those unseen and uncounted. Opportunities for transmission abound.

-*We* influence the shape of the curve, w our policies at the national, state, local, institutional levels. We also influence the shape of the curve w our behavior.

There is nothing inevitable about the clean and continuous decline in cases once we have passed the peak.

The drive to reopen will write the next chapter of this epidemic.

I understand the desperation + economic tragedy unfolding alongside the health crisis.

I want ppl to understand that optimism + hope will not drive down cases + deaths from #COVID19. We will pay in lives lost.