LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Thank you for posting fact-based Letter to editor by Johnathan Ferguson and supporting letter by Maggie Funchion.  I wish to add my support letter.

Our community has a large population of elders and also people with a variety of health issues. 

Protecting them from exposure to COVID should be a moral priority.  The perception that COVID only impacts the elderly and health compromised was unfortunately misunderstood and promoted in March 2020 and is a fallacy promoted by people who choose to spread falsehoods.  

Children, teens, and adults and folks with no known health issues have died and/or been permanently damaged by the COVID19 virus.  It is also known that while fewer children, teens and adults die compared to the elderly, these are the people who contract the virus, may show no symptoms but pass the virus on to others.  It is also currently being studied and understood that some people who contract the virus, have no or slight symptoms, may still suffer from long-term effects of this invisible infection.

CDC guidelines are science-based and inform us that crowded situations, close physical contact and enclosed space, as well as the duration of exposure to someone who has COVID can impact not only whether we are infected with COVID, but also the severity of that infection.  

In our community, we have determined not to impose mask-wearing, which is a simple very effective act, out of a belief that economic concerns outweigh our moral obligation to our family, friends and community.

Owners of businesses that have recently chose to close (due to the increased number of cases, as of 1-12-2021 equating to 2,188 COVID cases and  23 deaths in LEVY County, an increase of 10% per day from last week) have been harassed and bullied by other members of our community for closing.  The harassment and bullying is an extreme and irrational response to perceived infraction to one’s freedom.  But because of this singular belief, it is no surprise to see such a surge in COVID cases.  

I witness MANY folk at Chiefland WALMART angrily put a mask on outside; step through the door and tear the mask off with some kind of heroic disdain.  While in Alachua County, EVERYONE WEARS A MASK, with no such apparent disdain. Does our community foster such baseless and ill-informed anger?

For those in our community who have decided wearing a mask is an imposition on your freedom, that choice is also a choice to kill others.  You will be responsible if/when someone in our community dies because you didn’t care a whit about spreading the virus.

I believe Cedar Key to be a close-knit small town, valuing our neighbors, caring about them as demonstrated by many acts of kindness, generosity and volunteerism witnessed here daily.  This kind of caring is unique to our small community as is generally lost in bigger cities.  I really hope more of us will don masks, work on getting vaccinated and stop the extreme bullying of citizens who choose to wear masks, social distance, or to temporarily close their businesses as their/our choice to do so.  These choices to care about YOU is every bit an expression of our freedom to choose than yours to challenge us.  I hope more of you who feel this way will express support for upholding and enforcing CDC guidelines together. We WILL only defeat COVID19 together!