I am certainly grumpy today because elderly people are dying in local nursing homes!

We should not be shocked by the horrifying news of the COVID-19 outbreaks in our local assisted-living facilities for the elderly and nursing homes.  We should not be surprised when reopening our schools causes new virus outbreaks and possible reclosing.  We will not find it unusual when our economic depression grows as Federal aid runs out and Republicans in Washington refuse to extend it.  We should have known that local elected officials would be too timid to require residents to take the most elementary risk prevention act of wearing masks in public.    No, we could have predicted all of this.  It didn’t take a crystal ball.

So now, here we are. Our caseloads, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise. Our local assisted-living facilities for the elderly and nursing homes are experiencing the same gut-wrenching horror as did Washington and New Jersey, almost four to five months later.  We are witnessing the agony of our families who cannot visit family members or properly mourn the deaths of their loved ones.  People In our community are out of work, running out of unemployment insurance, losing access to healthcare and facing eviction.  Our governor has mandated the opening of schools without the full safety precautions or funding needed to make this a success.  In fact, he told school boards they would need local Health Department approval if they wanted to keep classrooms closed — and then instructed health directors not to give it.  County and city officials continue to dither over a simple requirement of mask wearing to reduce the virus spread.

All of this was easily predicted and avoided. No crystal ball needed.  Only some common sense, an openness to warnings from public health officials,  a moral approach to put people before politics, and a bit of inner fortitude.

About AL:  I’m a grumpy, retired business owner who lives in the blue-collar town of Sebastian.  My opponent is a lawyer and a member of the local elite who works in a place called Tara Plantation.  The difference is obvious.  I will fight for the health and well-being of all Indian River County’s working families and seniors.