Officials with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital took to social media Wednesday to discuss the importance of maintaining safe health practices as Los Angeles County begins to reopen in the coming weeks and months.

https://www.facebook.com/HenryMayoHospital/videos/546687192910267/?v=546687192910267

On Wednesday, Dr. Larry Kidd, Henry Mayo’s Senior Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, and Dr. Bud Lawrence,  Medical Director of Henry Mayo’s Emergency Department, sat down for a Facebook Live session to give an update on how the hospital was doing in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of the topics that the pair discussed was the reopening of Los Angeles County, the first phase of which is scheduled to begin on Friday.

“As we do that, (while) it’s very exciting for us to be able to get out of our house and go do other things, I want to remind people to remain vigilant,” Lawrence said.

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While Santa Clarita residents staying at home and practicing social distancing has helped decrease the number of patients that may “overwhelm a healthcare system,” Lawrence noted that it does not permanently eliminate the risk of infection.

“It’s a flattening of the curve, but you have to remember too it is in a sense ‘kicking the can down the road,” he said. “There’s still people who, because they have been staying home, have not become sick, which is awesome. However, we want to make sure you stay well and still don’t get sick.”

Lawrence went to encourage residents to avoid contact with other people, and to still maintain six feet between themselves as they go out to businesses and venues that begin to reopen in the coming weeks.

“Please remain vigilant as we move into this new time of opening things up,” he said. “If things go well, things will continue to open up further and further, so hopefully we can all look forward to that.”

To watch the full stream, check out the video above, or click here.

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