It is no surprise that coronavirus has continued to run rampant in our society since early March. Everyone, in some way or another, has been affected by the virus as we are trying to learn and go through our days with this ‘new normal.’
The United States has hit an unfortunate milestone by hitting over 10 million cases in total; at the time of writing this, we have made it to about 10.6 million. Every day our country is increasing this number with no end in sight and it is scary to now recognize that. Without a miracle, it seems that we will not be able to even get over thinking about the virus until, at least, the end of the year.
Personally, I am angry that the number is this high, but I am not so sure why. I am a firm believer that we cannot live in fear of this virus and that having our stores and restaurants open and being able to see our friends is really important to our emotional and social wellbeing.
Especially with the holidays fast approaching, it is important to be around the ones we love and being able to do the things we really enjoy this time of year, like ice skating and shopping. I think there is an importance to being able to do these things while also making sure we are safe about this virus, especially those who are more susceptible to it than others.
But besides my feelings about it, we all need to recognize that there is a certain amount of safety we need to be aware of and we need to follow these rules that have been put in place for our safety. There are many countries that are taking extreme measures when it comes to the enforcement of coronavirus rules, and I do not think we should go as far as to force people to follow these new rules, but I do think there should be some kind of punishment in place for those refusing to comply with these rulings, possibly some sort of fine would be a real deterrent for those who refuse to comply.
I think, ultimately, we need some more rules in place, so we do not need to see this number rise higher, but I also understand that there is a need to be able to go out and be around people and get out of the house for a little bit. Ten million is too big of a number for people to just be okay with what is happening and we must all try our best to follow those rules and be cautious when we are out in public.
I am very close with someone who was diagnosed with coronavirus so I understand how it can affect a person’s mental and physical health. I remember how devastating it was for this person and we all must remember those who are being the most severely affected by this pandemic.
Lydia Mardin can be contacted at:
lmardin@kscequinox.com
