Laguna Beach physicians confront the COVID-19 surge
Dr. Anita Wang of Laguna Beach wearing full-body personal protective equipment last May at a California hospital. Courtesy of Anita Wang
Emergency Medicine physician Dr. Anita Wang of Laguna Beach said “the surge is here.” Wang, who has a functional medicine practice in Laguna Beach when she’s not being called to county field hospitals to help with an influx of stabilized COVID-19 patients, said that since the Thanksgiving holiday, entire families are contracting the virus, which has killed over 1,718 people in Orange County.
The vaccine, which is being distributed to frontline workers and other high-risk individuals first and should reach the general population by March, “will help eradicate the virus,” said Wang, who worked to combat infectious diseases like SARS in China when it broke out years ago. “But it’s not a silver bullet. Respiratory etiquette – handwashing, not touching your face – wearing a mask an