Tri-Citians are tired of COVID, but another shutdown looms. Don’t let it happen | Editorial
If Tri-Citians want to keep our shops and restaurants open, then we need to step up.
Our social distancing efforts are lacking, and our COVID-19 cases our surging. If we don’t get back on track, our economy will be shut down — again.
Don’t think it won’t.
State health officials made a show of force Tuesday in an online effort imploring Washington citizens to take the coronavirus more seriously. Too many people are becoming complacent, and cases are accelerating statewide.
Their message was clear: If we don’t voluntarily take precautions to slow the COVID-19 swell, then the government may have to step in.
That could mean a repeat of the restrictions that were put in place last spring when the pandemic first hit. And nobody wants that — especially around the holiday season.
Business owners who are just getting back on their feet need these next several busy weeks to help them recover from the last shutdown. Many could not take another forced closure and keep their businesses alive.
So we need to be smart. We need to be unselfish. We need to listen to the health experts who are pleading with us to follow their advice and limit our social interactions to keep hospitals from being overrun.
That’s why the Washington State Department of Health and the state Coronavirus Response Joint Information Center went on the offensive this week to plead with citizens to re-think any plans for big Thanksgiving gatherings.
Ideally, people should celebrate Thanksgiving only with people in their same household.
If they absolutely feel they must gather with others outside of their homes — five at the maximum — Deputy Secretary of Health for COVID-19 Response Lacy Fehrenbach said all participants should seriously consider a “full quarantine for the two weeks prior” to Thanksgiving Day, and only leave the house when absolutely necessary.
That means they should start isolating now.
Fehrenbach also said that if people gather for the holiday, they should wear masks, stay 6 feet apart and stay outdoors. Skip the turkey dinner and do something else, like take a walk together, she suggested.
We know asking guests to wear masks in your home may feel awkward, but it is a simple request that could make a huge difference in bringing our COVID-19 cases down.
In the Tri-Cities, daily COVID-19 case counts are soaring close to the peak we saw this summer.
We knew that when the cold weather hit, cases likely would climb. More people stay indoors, which makes it easier for the virus to spread.
But this accelerated risk of infection is alarming. The more widespread the disease, the more likely there will be an increase in hospitalizations and deaths.
Not only that, during Tuesday’s briefing Dr. Anthony Chen, director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said there also is concern that higher COVID-19 cases in a community puts health care workers at greater risk, and we can’t afford to lose staff to sickness.
David Postman, Gov. Jay Inslee’s chief of staff, said a volunteer effort to slow the surge “is so much better for everybody than trying to shut down the economy.”
The state has the highest number of cases it has ever had, and case counts have accelerated over the past two weeks, according to State Health Officer Dr. Kathy Lofy.
She emphasized that it’s not due to an increase in testing, but it’s a “real increase in disease.”
“We’re at the point that, if we cannot change the current trajectory of disease by changing our behaviors, we’ll need to take actions that will hurt our economy,” Lofy said. “And no one wants to do that again.”
We certainly don’t.
Tri-Citians stepped up this summer. We started wearing masks more often and brought our COVID-19 numbers down.
Now we are being asked to find alternative ways to connect with one another instead of gathering privately indoors without masks. We can do this.
People are weary, and many are mentally “done” with the disease. But it isn’t done with us.
This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 11:46 AM.