Let's get this right so we can continue on the road to recovery
By Mary Wade Triplett
More cars are out on the roads. More stores are open.
Life seems a little more normal.
But things are definitely not back to normal.
As of today, Monongalia County has 114 COVID-19 cases and that figure is still rising. Testing is expanding and the statewide numbers are going up too.
We all are hoping our lives will resume and that we can go back to our regular activities.
But as much as we want that, we are not there yet.
And if we don’t follow some simple rules, COVID-19 cases might spike and then there might be a pause, or even a retreat, on opening up the economy again.
So why don’t we want to do this right? Why are there still people wandering the grocery stores without masks on?
The reason to do so is pretty simple: The mask an individual wears mostly protects other people. In turn, their fellow community members should mask up to help protect their neighbors. Add in social distancing of at least 6 feet, and that makes it very unlikely that one person would transmit COVID-19 to the other one.
Although when the COVID-19 pandemic began, a mask shortage prevented widespread use, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that anyone going out wear a face covering. By now, many groups have stepped up to create some of the cloth variety that have been distributed to members of the community. Bandannas also work and they can look pretty cool.
Kieara Paige Snyder, a ninth grader at Clay-Battelle High School, did her part by stitching about 320 masks, according to her mother, Drue. She donated the masks to Monongalia County Health Department, which is participating in the MASKS4WV program started by the West Virginia Association of Local Health Departments.