Experts agree reduced public helping to flatten curve in SWFL, statewide

Lee County says it’s seen a considerable reduction in traffic countywide. And medical professionals have told us people staying off the roads and in their homes is part of why we’re seeing the projected peak for coronavirus moving back a bit later now.

It’s the magic words everyone has been waiting to hear, and medical professionals both locally and nationally are saying them — flattening the curve.

“The numbers do appear to be flattening out a little bit,”” said Dr. Robert Hawkes, the director of the FGCU physician assistant program.

Other health experts agree.

“We are in fact, I believe, flattening the curve,” said Dr. Aaron Glatt, the spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America.

The projected peak of COVID-19 in Florida is pushed back a bit, and that’s something officials say is the positive result from people listening to the call to stay at home.

“Those mitigation measures are working,” said Jared Moskowitz, the director of Florida Emergency Management Division. “The social distance measures are working.”

People in the region don’t have to go far to see if people are staying home here in Southwest Florida.

“Certainly, there’s a lot less traffic on the roads,” Hawkes said. “That’s probably one of the big things we’ve seen.”

Lee County told us they’ve seen a 40% to 50% percent overall reduction in traffic across the county.

Florida Department of Transportation shared a graph tracking traffic in Collier County and showing a reduction from the normal traffic flow.

These trends and social distancing are what officials say must continue for us to stop the spread.

The medical professionals we spoke with told us it is important for everyone to understand we are not out of the woods yet. But, if we stick to what we’ve seen work, they say we will see case numbers per day continue to fall.

“We just want everyone to understand that now is not the time to change our behavior,” Moskowitz said.