Hello? Utah?

Yesterday, after several difficult weeks (possibly to be explained in a later post), my wife Muri and I took a day trip to beautiful Provo Canyon, about an hour from our home in South Jordan. We found a parking place right across the Provo River from Bridal Veil Falls. With sight of the water cascading down the mountain side and the sounds of the rushing water, it was a perfect spot to enjoy our lunch.

Across the river, at the base of the falls, several hundred people, mostly families with young children were sitting on the rocks or climbing the lower falls. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the warm spring day. No one was wearing a mask and no one was social distancing. Perhaps no one had looked at the Utah COVID-19 website for the last few days and seen that Utah has moved into second place in the US as to the rate of spread of the coronavirus … or that since May 29, the number of new cases per day has roughly doubled.   Or that this coincides with a 131% increase in the use of outdoor recreation areas, apparently without masks or social distancing.

Hello? Utah? This pandemic is not over. Is it really such a big deal to wear a mask or stay six feet apart? Over 13,000, people have died here in Utah and our nation is over 112,000 deaths. Think about that.   The number of people who have died in Utah is 4 times the number killed on 9-11 and in the U.S. the death toll is twice that of the Vietnam war.   How can you ignore that?   Of course, the irony of forgoing masks is that those who do so think they are making a personal choice not to worry about catching COVID-19 but in reality they are saying I don’t care if others get it.  Sure, if you are twenty and you find yourself infected, it is relatively unlikely you’ll die of COVID-19 … but if you are going maskless in crowds, the chance is high that you’ll infect others, some of whom may be older … and more likely to die of the disease.   You are not saying FU to the coronavirus, you are saying FU to others.   This is not a game, not a conspiracy to take away your freedom or just the flu.  This is a war against a sub-microscopic enemy.  Put on a freaking mask when you are in a crowd, and for Pete’s sake, keep social distancing. Let’s not find ourselves looking back 6 months from now wishing we’d only listened to the warnings of the CDC as friends and loved ones pass away and the economy screeches to a halt again.

Oh, yeah.  Hello?  USA?   This means you, too.  Even if our president doesn’t agree.

Explore posts in the same categories: feeling older

Tags: coronavirus, feeling older, senior health, Utah

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.