As of Monday, the Ocean Beach School District will return to remote-only learning due to the current (and worst yet) Pacific County surge in the coronavirus pandemic. As a retired teacher and long-time community member, I say “Bravo!”
According to the Chinook Observer, the county’s case rate works out to 438 new cases per 100,000 people over a two-week rolling average which puts us in a high risk group. There were 55 new cases in the county during last week’s reporting period making 246 cases since the pandemic began. “A staggering number” according to day-before-yesterday’s online article.
I know I will not be popular when I say, “Why am I not surprised?” Yesterday, Nyel and I drove to Astoria and back for an 11:00 a.m. doctor’s appointment. Going over and coming back, we both remarked at how much traffic there was. “You’d never know there was any kind of sheltering going on,” we each said more than once. It seemed to be business as usual in downtown Long Beach and Astoria.
I have a great deal of trouble understanding how “we” continue to try to balance “normal” activities with precautionary measures for the coronavirus. Which part of LIFE CAN NO LONGER BE NORMAL is it that people cannot understand? How can we be so concerned about the emotional distress of our children and the economic distress of our families that we are willing to put our loved ones at risk? Or even provide their death sentence? I don’t get it.
We are not alone, of course. Leaders throughout the world are struggling with the same situation and their responses are equally mixed. We all seem to be in a pattern of tightening up for a while but relaxing before the economic situation becomes dire and, of course, before we have the virus under control. God forbid we should close our borders to non-residents or close every single business that is non-essential. We seem able to endure “some” restrictions for about a month at a time. Alas, not long enough to made a continuing difference.
The OBSD plan is to reopen January 11th. Good for them for taking this step! I hope it’s just a first step. And, how I wish that the rest of the County could follow — both in the private and public sectors.
So, now that the library is open, we are back to the waiting game. Only worse. The books that were on hold for us in March are again making their way through the list of waiting patrons, but the books we were reading to tide us over are long since finished and returned. So, I’m still reading from our bookshelves here in Oysterville.
I was five years old when the United States entered World War Two. I spent my early school years collecting tin foil, buying savings bonds, standing in lines with my mom with our ration books. I remember us all being full of patriotic fervor and singing songs like “The White Cliffs of Dover” and “Over There.” It was our government right or wrong, no question.
So here we are in 2020. In the midst of this unprecedented pandemic, we look for leadership and wisdom. Directions from the government are conflicted; from the scientists and health officials, more cautious and, seemingly, more sensible. If we have to trust one or the other, I’m putting my faith in the science and health departments.
