Remember the kid in your class who was always messing up so that the whole class had to stay in for recess or miss the field trip? The congregation of the Brooks Pentecostal Church, Lighthouse Christian Academy, and other Covid-deniers remind me of that kid. Through their irresponsible behavior, they have messed things up for everyone by putting us all at greater risk. How do people of faith justify that? How does someone who works at the hospital not know the facts?

At this writing, 57 cases have been connected to the church and Christian school. As a result, our public schools have to go backwards to only partial in-person teaching. We are the only county (Waldo) in the state with schools with the “yellow” determination, all because of this outbreak. A congregant brought the disease into a local nursing home. Fall high school sports are cancelled.  The level of fear has increased in our community, and the gap between COVID-deniers and realists has grown.

Increasing outbreaks extend the time we will all have to live with COVID. Until now, Waldo County has been doing well with low numbers for new cases because so many of us have done the right thing – maintain social distance, wear a mask, wash your hands. Really, how hard is that?

Nationwide, the last few days have brought the highest number of new cases per day since the beginning of the pandemic, and the number of deaths will soon be a quarter of a million. Our economy is in dire straits with millions of Americans unemployed and businesses failing. The only way to improve the economy and get back to normal is by controlling the virus. And the only way to control the virus is for everyone to do the right thing.

If you are waiting for a vaccine to be readily available, don’t hold your breath. If you think herd immunity will take care of it, you will have to wait until 70 percent of the population gets and survives the disease. In Waldo County, that would be 27,800 people.

Freedom, religious or otherwise, doesn’t give you the right to put others in danger. I mean, are you free to drive drunk and cause others harm? Come on, folks, let’s get this thing over with. Do the right thing.

Linda Buckmaster lives in Belfast