No seriously, stay at home

Published 7:31 am Friday, April 3, 2020

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Not to belabor the point we made yesterday about the alarming number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Chambers County, but we also wrote a story about a company that uses location data from cellphones to grade how well we are doing with social distancing.

The grade for Chambers County was slightly above failing. We are not the only community not doing well, as most of our neighbors are struggling as well.

For the most part, this new “normal” has thrown everyone out of sorts and that is to be expected.

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However, we have seen firsthand how quickly this virus spreads and due to the lack of treatment, how fatal it can be.

There is a segment of society that wants government to have less control and a segment that wants more control.

States adjacent to ours like Georgia and Mississippi have already signed shelter in place orders while Gov. Kay Ivey says that is not yet needed.

It is uncertain to us what she is looking at or what is taking so long. Nevertheless, we can all be proactive and shut ourselves down.

We realize people’s livelihood depends on working or keeping their businesses open. However, what good is all that if you are not around after the crisis is over?

There are resources like the Small Business Administration that is available to assist community business owners and provide unemployment benefits to assist workers who do not have jobs.

We suggest using them, as that is why they are there. In times like this, no one should look down on anyone who obtains some of this help.

Take the time to put your electronic devices down and spend time with family. You do not have to go out and see what is going on. We are here to do that for you – and we will.

The confirmed deaths and the Social Distancing Scorecard data go hand-in-hand.

It is a belief not only by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that social distancing is the most effective way to crush this crisis.

As of right now, we are all failing. The good news is that we can change that.

The time is now, and you don’t have to wait for the governor to step in.

We can all take the lead.

The faster we act, the faster we can get on with our lives the way they were a few short weeks ago.