Mayor’s Statement on Pandemic, COVID-19 Virus, May 7, 2020
CITY OF BUCKHANNON – MAYOR’S STATEMENT– PANDEMIC, COVID-19 VIRUS
May 7, 2020
Good evening. There are some hopeful signs for our world & our B-U community. “Things” -are slowly starting to come back. Perhaps symbolically the tulips along Main Street & in Jawbone Park have been blooming beautifully, seemingly oblivious to the global pandemic. Plans are being made to begin our 2020-21 school year in our public school system as well at Wesleyan where about 300 or so new students are scheduled to settle in amid their Home Among the Hills in about three months. China Wok has reopened- thanks Karen! (heya Johnny & Sophie!) – & soon our friends at Don Pacos, Stone Tower Brews, CJ Maggies & several other favorite eateries will open up their doors- with various restrictions but reopening nevertheless. Many of our citizens who’ve been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to return to work are heading back or soon will head back to their jobs. The Child Development Center plans on resuming their operations on June 1. We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to salvage a portion of our Festival Fridays’ season returning music, food, friendship, & fun to Jawbone Park. We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to have some sort of Fourth of July celebration. We’re still going to dedicate the recently completed Gallery at our Colonial Theatre & recognize student art from all of our public schools. We’re starting to plan for Fall Fest in September. We ALL- want to be able to sing & dance & laugh & work together toward a better community again. Still- now is NOT the time to let down our guard. There’s a clever Bob Huggins’ commercial running right now where the Coach says about the pandemic- “The game’s not over yet.” Indeed, it’s not over yet. This remains a highly contagious killer of a virus.
This horrible disruption to our much taken for granted way of life- that has shaken us to our core- has also generated a certain eye-opening resolve that we are all so very interdependent upon each other. I choose to think that there is a lot of newfound respect for one another, appreciation of the fact that we’re not alone despite being isolated from our family & friends like never before. We recognize that our front line workers in healthcare & throughout our food & other supply chains are heroes who are essential to our very survival. By the way, this week is International Nurses & Hospitals Week, so- send out some love to our healthcare folks. Just don’t hug them, at least not right now. We also should appreciate our public servants as we’ve never appreciated them before- our own City employees who’ve not flinched while continuing to provide our most basic services during these trying weeks & months. Our City employees still show up for work every single day to protect us, to tackle projects, & to maintain some level of normalcy during a very highly abnormal time. We’ve all been reminded that maintaining our world is a delicate matter.
We mourn with those who’ve lost loved ones to this viral demon. We especially think of our friend, Steve Tierney & his wife, Kelley- Steve lost his dad to covid-19 just last week. We empathize with all of those who’ve been hurt, some irreparably- financially by the fallout from this horrid plague. We all have experienced sense of loss- of our freedom, our liberties, & our gatherings with our loved ones & friends. We have reflected together via social media about this shared sense of loss. Our friends at the Parish House & Salvation Army can use our blessings & our contributions more than ever before right now. If you have some expendable resources, please help support those who need our help the most. Drop off a couple of jars of peanut butter or a few cans of soup. There are hungry people living just down the road from you. That’s not just a line or cliche folks- let me say it again- there are hungry people living just down the road from you. Please help if you can.
We are slowly trying to emerge from this dark, challenging period. To be sure, Buckhannon’s best days are ahead of us. Still- in the coming weeks & months we must remain vigilant. We need to continue to focus on the basic pandemic tenets- social distancing, washing our hands, wearing masks when out doing grocery shopping & those kinds of errands, staying safe & at home as much as possible, & looking out for our most vulnerable, the elderly & those who are immunity system compromised. Please do these basic things, not just for ourselves, but for our fellow citizens who may be more susceptible to this virus that we know will linger on at some level until we’re all vaccinated. Bless the scientists who are working night & day to cure us of this plague & the misery that accompanies it. We need to embrace the science behind this pandemic. Depending upon what news you listen to, we may have a trial vaccine by as early as this Fall. Sign me up! Let’s eradicate this virus.
We have had five positive tests confirmed here in Upshur County. Fifty-one of our fellow mountaineers have succumbed to the virus, & nearly 1,300 have tested positively in West Virginia. More than 75,000 Americans have now died from covid-19, & the total number of Americans who’ve contracted the disease has eclipsed 1.25 million, while approaching four million cases worldwide. Our City will continue to take its cues from Governor Justice & State officials. In the weeks ahead we’ll carefully consider measures to safely reopen City Hall, our public parks, the Stockert Youth & Community Center, & the Gibson Library. We’ll consider relaxing our City employee travel restriction. Now though is NOT the time for us to act irresponsibly by moving too quickly. We’ll mostly stay our course with previously adopted measures during the month of May, considering the reduction of earlier implemented measures thereafter.
We continue to be all in THIS together, & I know as we get through the coming weeks, that we’ll remain strong as a community while minimizing the impact upon the health of our residents. Anyone having an emergency should contact 911 as you normally would. The best source of information about Covid-19 remains the Centers for Disease Control website. We remain “Buckhannon Strong,” but we still have a long way to go to get past this crisis.