If you’re like me, you’re probably past tired of wearing face masks and physical distancing. Too bad that not even the president can “wish away” COVID-19 as he’s been promising since March.
While other countries have applied the science of virology and epidemiology to minimize the effects of COVID-19 on the health and economies of their citizens, America, and more specifically the president, has treated the pandemic like a political circus.
For those Republicans who have followed the words and example of the president, they and or their communities have paid a steep price in contracting or spreading the virus. Many Republican governors, including our own Gov. Chris Sununu, have tried to walk a tightrope in their decisions between following the advice of their medical advisers and the advice of their Republican colleagues.
All that is about to come to a head in the next four weeks. Between the reopening of some classrooms and the return of Bike Week, New Hampshire will soon see a surge in new COVID cases like we’ve never seen before.
Most of us can appreciate the value of classroom learning, but having children crowding onto buses, lining up for lunch, and walking the hallways between classes is an invitation to a super-spreading event. By the time the first case is detected, the entire school, including faculty, will be affected.
While many of the bikers at Bike Week are “home grown,” a lot of them will be coming in after the South Dakota bikers’ event in Sturgis. In South Dakota, the virus is considered “political,” particularly by many of the 250,000 bikers in attendance, so COVID precautions were not followed.
Between these two events, we can expect to see a big wave hit our state within two or three weeks after their occurrence.
As much as we all wish it, now is not the time to step on the accelerator. At this time, patience is not only a virtue, it is a necessity. “Patience,” Saint Augstine said, “is the companion of wisdom.”
(Dr. James Fieseher lives in Dover.)