Over the past week or so, you can feel the fear surrounding the spread of the COVID-19 virus begins to weaken. At the same time, you have also seen the attention paid to those practices that were once thought to be the norm in curbing the virus’ spread.

Last weekend, Stephanie and I joined our daughter at softball practice games at Sports Force Parks on the Mississippi. You could feel the excitement by players and parents alike in returning to the ballparks after nearly three months of being on hiatus.

The parking lot was full and the line paying for admission was long. There were baseball and softball teams from throughout central Mississippi coming to knock off the rust that set in during the early months of the pandemic.

But while the park’s staff put on extraordinary effort in providing everything needed to afford proper social distancing and hygiene, the general public did not put forth the same.

Among the hundreds in attendance, few masks were worn and many of those in lines failed to adhere to any sense of social distancing, much less staying 6-feet apart. How quickly we forget?

By no means am I perfect in this regard. I have failed to wear a mask when quickly running into the store or gas station and the bottle of hand sanitizer in my car has been empty for more than a week. I need to do better.

But while all of these locations and businesses have thankfully opened, the COVID-19 virus still remains. The tools that helped us flatten the curve are still at our disposal and still needed.

The hope and imagination that the heat of the summer will magically dissipate the virus is quickly being debunked and the spread could likely be worse as we venture out to events, ballparks, casinos and more.

In no way do I believe we should rush back into our homes and lock ourselves in from the outside world. But there is a responsibility, a personal responsibility, we each have to take care of ourselves, our families and our neighbors as we get back to doing the things we love.

It is important that we use the tools at our disposal and be an example for others.

Yes, the recovery rate of the COVID-19 virus is tremendous, but we still have far too many people getting infected and far too many people dying; regardless of their age or underlying condition.

While we have been able to return to the ballpark and begin to venture to many of our favorite businesses, we must remain vigilant. We must remember that using hand sanitizer, washing our hands and using masks when in public and doing our best to adhere to social distancing guidelines is not necessarily for our benefit, but for those around us.

I need to do better and will do better. I ask those reading this to do their best as well.

 

Tim Reeves is editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com.