OUR POSITION: COVID cases are spiking again and as much as we’d like to, we can’t ignore the dangers.
Like us, you’re probably tired of hearing about COVID.
But, hopefully, like us, you know better than ignore the fact this virus is still a health threat to everyone in the U.S. and especially in Florida. And, we might add, especially in Sarasota and Charlotte counties.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported 504 new cases of COVID in the seven-day period ending June 2. That is up almost 17% from the previous week.
Sarasota County reported 1,454 new cases for the same seven-day period, up about 18%. DeSoto County saw only 46 new cases in the same period, up about 9%
And, while in general the new mutants of the virus see less serious, there are still people hospitalized, still people on ventilators and still people who die from the virus.
According to Charlotte County Health Department Administrator Joseph Pepe, we have an average of around 65 new cases a day. That qualifies Charlotte as a high transmission area.
Of course the big concern is the accuracy about the number of cases — and we’re not talking about the numbers being exaggerated.
There are surely many, many people who are experiencing symptoms — some very mild — who decide to do a home test. Very few of those results are ever reported. That could mean hundreds of positive results each week.
We understand the virus fatigue that has most people shrugging off the concerns of getting sick. We realize the relatively mild reactions to the latest infections are a reason people are not taking the dangers of the virus as seriously as they did six months or a year ago.
Caution is the best course of action. Wear a mask in close surroundings and/or when shopping. Unfortunately this virus is probably here to stay. You shouldn’t take a chance that your infection could spread to someone more vulnerable — someone who might not have the tolerance to escape the most serious effects of COVID.
