CLEARFIELD – The COVID pandemic wreaked havoc on “normalcy” with shutdowns, business restrictions, social gathering limits and masking orders.
“It’s been a really hard two years,” said Clearfield County Commissioner Dave Glass on Tuesday, “but as I look at the trends for Omicron, it’s in steep, steep decline.
“When I saw Omicron – how contagious it was but milder, I felt like once [case numbers dropped], we’d have a pretty good chance to really reopen as a society, as a county and as a community.
“My thought is our message should be: ‘It’s time to reopen fully. It’s time to learn how to live with it and move on,’ and I’ve been one to preach caution, especially before we had the vaccine.”
Commissioner John A. Sobel agreed, saying “that’s absolutely the case.” He said at first, medical and scientific communities were dealing with something brand-new and were overly cautious.
“I think we’re to the point where Americans and Clearfield Countyians are just crying for a return to normalcy, though it may be slightly different than what used to be considered normal.
“Folks here have common sense and know what to do, when to be careful, and quite frankly, we’ve learned that a lot of the shutdowns – due to a lack of knowledge – really didn’t work all that well.”
“… The mandates [early on] crippled our economy,” Commissioner Tony Scotto said, adding that in the future, the state should have a better plan than some “whimsical” shutdown of select businesses.
Glass said the commissioners would continue to encourage citizens to get vaccinated against COVID. “That’s the quickest and safest way to protect yourself.”
He said if you’re vaccinated and especially if you’re under 65 years of age, the risk of death from omicron is lower than driving down the street.
“For the vaccinated, it (omicron) really is like the flu … and we’ve lived with the flu for generations. Now, for the unvaccinated, it’s a whole different animal.
“I think a lot of people have been way too cavalier and now some are overestimating the risk profile, even when vaccinated, and we need to come together.”
The commissioners took no official action following discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, but Glass said he felt it was an important discussion for leaders to have at local, state and federal levels.