Task Force trying to help locals combat continued COVID surge
Pine Island COVID-19 Task Force member Sue Dahod reported that she received a mixed, although somewhat positive, response after having taken flyers to island businesses to post asking their customers to please continue to wear a mask.
“I started at The Center and went to St. James City,” Dahod said at last week’s Task Force meeting. “I went down one side and up the other … many were pleased to see something they could put in their windows. Several said they would take a sign but would have to talk to management. Several were thankful and they would post the signs.”
Dahod said she explained to businesses that the act of posting these signs was voluntary, and of the various businesses she visited, only two refused posting the signs. Many of the businesses, she said, already had their own signs.
Helen Fox brought a message to the group from her husband, Dr. Jim Koopman, regarding the new COVID Delta variant.
“I’m concerned the variant is so transmissible, that the high transmission rate is going to further the evolution of the virus to escape the vaccine,” said Koopman, a fellow Task Force member. “That is particularly scary because then a new vaccine would have to be created.”
Fox went on to say Koopman feels the group’s task should be trying to hold transmission down by masking and by supporting efforts to require vaccination by businesses.
Dahod admitted the demand for broad vaccinations is likely to come from a public outcry for safety, rather than the few businesses who already have mandates in place for masking and vaccination requirements.
She said, perhaps the Task Force can help by supporting businesses that do require or have very high percentages of vaccinations, and require masks.
“One of the wonderful things that’s come out of this awful plague is that there’s so much cooperation worldwide,” said Fox. “There’s so much sharing of data, so many people who are deeply and personally invested in stopping this thing. That holds good news for the future I think.”
The next step for the Task Force, as discussed at Monday’s meeting, may be to secure relationships with local leaders, in an effort to bolster trust within the community, in the continuing efforts by the Task Force group to keep the community safe and healthy.
According to Dahod, to date, various island leadership groups have had differing reactions to teaming up with the Task Force.
Pastor Kaylee Vida reported the Pine Island Methodist church is now requiring masks for those who attend in-person services. The service is being live-streamed for those who prefer to remain distant or are not comfortable wearing a mask.