First,
the good news, the COVID-19 numbers. We’ve all made sacrifices of
one kind or another and so far, as far as we can tell, it’s working.
If you look at the numbers we started publishing on March 23rd on
our COVID-19 page, things have really improved. On May 3rd, there
were 518 new cases of the Coronavirus reported in the Town of
Brookhaven and on July 4th, there were only 11. Hooray for us!
Right?
Now the bad news, it ain’t over. In fact, it’s far
from over. Things are better because of you. You took COVID-19
seriously, you wore your mask, you didn’t travel unless you had to,
you paid a little extra to have things delivered, and you only did
business with companies who took the Coronavirus seriously and did
everything they could to protect you. You washed your hands, wore
your mask, used hand sanitizer and didn’t go out unless it was
absolutely necessary.
In Suffolk County, by July 4th, 1,983
people had died of COVID-19. That’s not some abstract number. It’s
1,983 grandmas and grandpas, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles,
brothers and sisters who died from the Coronavirus. The only reason
the number isn’t higher is because we, you and me, did the right
things to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
If you have had
the luxury of being able to stay home, it’s been inconvenient, but
not the end of the world. You could order things and food from
Amazon, Costco, Target, and Instacart and have them delivered to
your front door without coming in contact with or even talking to
anyone. If you did have to go out and pick a few things up, you
could call ahead and Cirillo’s IGA and True Value Hardware, to name
just two, would load your trunk and close it without you coming into
contact with anyone.
But, what if you didn’t have the luxury
of being able to stay home? If you even still had your job, what if
you had to leave your home and go to work in one of the “essential”
occupations that make it possible for the rest of us to stay home?
What if you worked in the hospital, drove for UPS, delivered the
mail, or worked at Cirillo’s IGA? What then? All you could do was
cross your fingers and do the best you could to keep a roof over
your head and food on your table. The rest of us owe you a huge debt
of gratitude.
So, why am I writing this Editorial? Because I
don’t like what I’m seeing. Four months is a long time and we’re all
starting to get itchy. If you don’t watch the news, you’d never
think anything was going on. The car companies, particularly the
expensive car companies are telling us we owe it to ourselves to buy
a new car and head out on a long vacation trip. They’ll even deliver
our new car to our door! The chain steakhouses are showing us images
of sumptuous food and telling us to get out of the house and treat
ourselves. The airlines are telling us to take that vacation trip
even though they haven’t kept their promise to not pack the planes
and leave plenty of empty seats. The vacation resorts are telling us
it’s time for us to get away and enjoy. Even the cruise ships are
getting ready to sail even though a cruise ship is the last place
you should be in a pandemic. And Florida, the place from which many
of the cruise ships leave, is the next to last place you should be
right now.
I’d like to leave you with two thoughts. You see
what’s going on in the rest of the country. Before you leave your
house, invite someone over or visit someone, ask yourself, “Is this
REALLY necessary?” If this were Russian Roulette, would this
behavior be worth pulling the trigger? It’s harsh, but true. Is this
trip or visit worth putting your life on the line?
And
finally, let me share a tip with you. We usually get our flu shots
in the fall at Costco in order to avoid sick people in our doctor’s
office. This fall, because of the Coronavirus, we don’t want to go
anywhere near Costco. So, we’re going to get our flu shots at our
cardiologist’s office because there usually aren’t infectiously sick
patients there.
If you have a comment and would like to
respond to any of the above, we'd be glad to consider printing your
response. Please send your comments to
larry@bellport.com. You can
read the comments we receive on our Letters
To The Editor page.
Sincerely,
Larry Sribnick
Editor/Publisher,
Bellport.com