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We can’t let our guard down

It would be easy for someone to look at our current coronavirus statistics and think the worst is past us, that it’s time to return more fully to normal.

After all, a Northeast Michigander hasn’t died after being exposed to the virus since August, hospitalizations across our region are exceptionally low, and the weekly average of new cases of infected Northeast Michiganders has been stable for weeks — although that metric is on a slight rise.

But, as News staff writer Crystal Nelson reported recently, this is not the time to let our guard down.

Those relatively positive statistics — we won’t call them outright positive, because, after all, people are still getting sick – are at least partly attributable to the sacrifice we all have made to try to get this virus under control.

We are moving in the right direction because we’re masking up, keeping our distance, avoiding large gatherings, and practicing good hygiene.

But the virus is still with us, and it’s entirely possible that, if we let our guard down, the bug could spread again to our highest-risk populations and we could once again see the types of mortality rates we saw in the spring.

So stay the course, Northeast Michigan.

The data shows us what we’re doing is working, not that we should stop doing it.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)

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