Social distance. Wash your hands. Wear your mask.
Lou Vargo, the director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management Agency, owns no idea how many times he has repeated the advice distributed by the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the last seven months. Vargo, though, expects to continue the repetition since the colder months for the Upper Ohio Valley have arrived.
“I saw on social media after Wheeling Park High School announced the closure for this week that people still are referring to COVID-19 that it’s just the flu and that only seven people have died in Ohio County,” Vargo said. “Now, I do agree that we need to do what we can to keep our kids in school and keep our businesses open, but the only way to do that is for us to work as a community and do those three things.
“Dr. (Anthony) Fauci has said that wearing our masks is even better than a vaccine, and to me it just makes common sense. Is it an inconvenience? It is. Is our normalcy different than before? Yeah, it is, but the only way to get back to the old normal is to get rid of this virus, and there’s only one way we’re going to do that,” he explained. “If you remember, this pandemic started when it was very cold, and the numbers were very high. To avoid that this time around, stay socially distanced, wash your hands, and wear your masks.”
Trick or Treat?
Now that the third week of October has arrived, those choosing to patronize local restaurants likely will prefer dining inside as opposed to on a patio, a deck, or inside a make-shift exterior operation covered by a tent as they have since May, and Halloween is expect to take place as long as the state’s COVID-19 map shows Ohio County in either the “green” or “yellow” category.
The CDC has offered guidance as to how to participate safely on Oct. 31 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
- Avoid direct contact with trick-or-treaters;
- Give treats outdoors if possible;
- Set up a station with individually bagged treats for kids to take, and;
- Wear a mask.
Vargo is hopeful local residents will take those precautions if they choose to participate, but he remains concerned after recently making a few observations in Ohio County.
“I am not sure why anyone expects it to be any different than when our numbers were high last winter and the governor had to shut everything down,” Vargo said. “About a month ago, I was very, very pleased with what I saw when I went to Walmart and places like that because most of the people were wearing masks and staying distanced from others. I really thought our community was ready to kill this thing around here.
“I really thought people were getting it and that it was going to have a positive impact on our numbers, but as of this past weekend, I saw a big difference,” he reported. “I now see most people without the masks, and that’s not a good thing at all. I’m not sure why it changed, so I hope the local residents realize how to keep people safe.”
Sick Rate vs. Death Rate
Howard Gamble, the administrator of the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department, announced two new positive cases Monday to bring the county count to 462 cases since testing began in April. Ohio County has lost seven residents to COVID-19 during the same time span.
With 453 recoveries on the books, however, are people taking for granted their own survival if they become infected with the coronavirus?
Vargo believes so.
“I am sure a lot of people are looking at the number of positive cases and the number of deaths, and they believe they will survive it if they get COVID-19,” Vargo said. “And that very well may be true because we know our young people seem to handle the virus better, but are they going around the elderly and people with autoimmune diseases before they know they actually have it?
“See, we know the virus is in our schools now and that is why Wheeling Park had to close this week,” he continued. “It may only be like a mild flu to the young people, but what are they doing to their parents and their grandparents while they are still asymptomatic? Those people could be spreading COVID-19 to their family members, so they have to think about what they are doing to their loved ones.”
