COVID-19 Hasn't Left

Thursday, June 18th, the following headlines appeared in the Hammond Daily Star, “Local high schools to host graduation ceremonies” and “PHS parade rolls this weekend.”   The first story reported that seven high schools in Tangipahoa Parish were implementing traditional senior graduation ceremonies involving the gathering of people, while the second reported the holding of a downtown parade in Ponchatoula followed by a social gathering at a local venue.

Fast forward to Tuesday, June 23th, and the following headline appeared in the New Orleans Advocate, “Grad soiree, DJ party cited as outbreak catalyst.”    That story reported that a June 8th graduation party for Isidore Newman School students and their parents was identified as a source of the COVID-19 spread.  The state health officials reported that dozens of the private school college prep school’s parents and students have been infected.

In disbelief one of the parents of a Newman student who attended the party stated he would be “shocked” if it had sparked an outbreak, but did acknowledge that there “wasn’t a whole lot of mask wearing.”  Only 50 people attended the gathering.  Sadly, he was wrong in his disbelief for both his wife and child tested positive for the virus along with others.

And to make matters worse, many of those with positive results have subsequently visited other relatives and friends, in addition to perspective colleges for possible attendance this fall.  God only knows how many others they’ve now infected.

While we continue to ignore the presence of the COVID-19 and push the envelope of returning to pre-virus normalcy, COVID-19 remains undeterred, and isn’t magically disappearing into the great unknown anytime soon.

Just keep poking the rattle snake with a stick and see what happens.

While it is not necessary to become obsessed with COVID-19 and completely drop out of daily living, it is necessary to stop being stupid by ignoring that some aspects of your life style must change or the virus will continue to spread unimpeded.

The damage done from the graduation ceremonies and the Ponchatoula parade, followed by the social gathering is set in motion and we won’t see the results for possibly two weeks.  Hopefully they are minimal.

 

However one has to wonder about the question posed by Dr. Jennifer Avegno,  Health Director of New Orleans.  She asked the following, “Is the joy of a graduation celebration worth the guilt of infecting others?”  Apparently some city leaders, Tangipahoa parents, and the Tangipahoa School District administrators have decided selfishly that the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

Hopefully our behavior will change or we can instead continue to pretend that everything regarding COVID-19 has mysteriously vaporized and follow the advice from Dr. Avegno, “ If you decide to throw a gathering of 100 or more, look around and decide which seven of them you would be comfortable with sentencing to death.”  The number is even greater if elderly are in attendance.

Just how much are you willing to risk regarding your loved ones and others?  Only time will tell!