I took a look at The Des Moines Register's lead editorial this morning, headlined "With COVID-19 straining hospitals and schools, we all can do something to help," learned a little and came away with at least one question about this brave "opinion" offering.
I learned, for example, that the Ottumwa school district cancelled classes Friday, presumably because of COVID-19 --- administrators preferred the generic terms "illness" or "symptoms" rather that rocking the boat by actually naming the disease. Earlier in the week, classes had been cancelled for three days because of COVID-19 related absences in the Mt. Ayr district.
Anyhow, The Register had three pieces of advice --- wear a quality mask when entering a congested public area, stay at home if you're sick --- and be nice. In other words, don't call your neighbor who does none of these things --- and most likely hasn't had his or her shots either --- an idiot.
I'm curious, though, about why the obvious wasn't mentioned in the editorial --- get your shots if you haven't already. The current Omicron surge has proved that break-through infections are frequent, but also that inoculation lessens the impact.
Currently, Iowa's inoculation rate stands at 59 percent, but in places like Lucas County, where the rate is only 44 percent, the totals are lower. The rate in Polk County is 65 percent. The illustration here is lifted from Iowa's official tracking site, updated on Friday.
There's nothing wrong with two of The Register's pieces of advice and I suppose there's really no need to yell at your neighbor either. On the other hand, I'm going to remember those folks I've learned about along the way who no doubt would be sympathetic if I kicked the bucket, but wouldn't take the relatively minor precaution of inoculation that could have prevented a launch into the great beyond in the first place.
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