Together we’ll thrive, divided we’ll continue to fail

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit bringing with it death, partisan debates over mitigation methods, and public safety, personal freedoms and a myriad of other previously unseen problems, there has been nothing but mixed messages from our elected officials and the various agencies tasked with informing and keeping the public safe, unfortunately that patterns appears to hold true as the Delta variant of the COVID virus continues to wreak havoc locally and globally.

Lakeport Mayor Kenny Parlet’s recent comments on the pandemic are the latest unfortunate example of one elected official saying one thing counter to others’ ongoing efforts to get a handle on the situation. To be fair, Parlet never said he was articulating his anti-vaccine rhetoric in his official capacity as mayor, and at least one member of the Lakeport City Council has gone on record opposing Parlet’s views, but does that even matter much when the misinformation is already out in the open and serving to encourage people not to trust the vaccine? We don’t find that to be good leadership.

Dr Gary Pace, interim health officer for the County of Lake gave the latest update to the Board of Supervisors last week and again on Sunday (a pre-recorded message in lieu of a presentation at Tuesday’s board meeting) and among the many points he emphasized was that a strong push towards keeping the schools open is of paramount importance. Yet this won’t happen unless enough staff, teachers and parents are vaccinated.

Another salient point is that more work needed to be done to keep vulnerable residents at the county’s skill nursing facilities safe because staff members appeared to be getting COVID and bringing it with them to work. Data obtained by the Record-bee from the state’s Department of Health shows that between the dates of June 1 and July 31, 2021, there were a total of 14 staff members who tested positive at Lakeport Post Acute, Meadowood Nursing Center and Rocky Point Care Center. There were also fewer than 11 residents who tested positive during the same time period at Rocky Point. More updated records won’t be available sooner because the state is attempting to keep up with a demand for records.

However, no sooner was Pace done than the usual barrage of naysayers and antivaxxers started to question the data and figures presented during his report.

What’s worse is the Bay Area News Group reported that legislation aimed at requiring all public and private employees statewide show proof of vaccination won’t be passed this year.

In addition to requiring employers make sure their employees demonstrate proof of vaccination, the legislation would have stipulated employees take weekly COVID tests. This is a shame because this particular legislation could have made a difference in staving off additional infections of the highly contagious variant.

At press time Monday, the County of Lake’s Health Department website showed 36 additional cases had been reported in Lake County since Tuesday and the County registered a 43.4 per 100/k seven day average. Despite making up only 14 percent of the total population, the 20 to 34 age group registered the highest percent of cases at 29 percent, 1,213 overall.

We think the mixed messages need to stop, together we will thrive and divided we will never get past this pandemic, more people will needlessly die and we won’t reach the herd immunity doctors and health care professionals say is needed to resume any semblance of normalcy any time soon.