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The Hartwell Sun
If we have learned anything this week, it is how quickly a seemingly distant threat to our health and safety can hit home.
Just a week ago coronavirus seemed like something happening half way around the world. Today, state, national and local officials are making difficult choices that will impact all of us, declaring states of emergency and canceling everything from baseball practices to the NCAA basketball tournaments.
It is in these unprecedented times that we as a local newspaper are here for you, the community we serve everyday in Hart County. We are here to bring you the truth about how COVID-19 is impacting us locally. Luckily, as of Friday afternoon, those impacts have been minimal. Life is continuing with very little disturbance locally. Schools will remain open for the foreseeable future, save for a few cancelations of sporting events and field trips. County officials, like school officials, say they are monitoring the situation closely and staying abreast of the most up to date information available from health officials and using it to make informed decisions.
Make no mistake, coronavirus does pose a threat to us all. It spreads easily and quickly and doctors are still working on exactly how to stop its proliferation. People with compromised immune systems, elderly folks and very young children are most susceptible and we all should bear that in mind in our day-to-day lives.
But for as much of a threat as it does pose, we must remember that preventing the spread of this novel disease starts with us. We all love our small, rural community and it is up to us, not officials in Atlanta or Washington D.C., to protect it. We urge you and your family to take precautions to stop the spread of this, or any, disease. Wash your hands. Stay away from someone who might be sick. If you are sick, seek medical attention and do not go to work.
If you’re not sick, don’t panic. Our community’s greatest resource is our people. It is our responsibility to remain calm and use our best judgement to keep ourselves and our families safe while also protecting our local economy.
Our local stores, restaurants and businesses rely on us to keep their doors open. If you’re not sick, why not continue shopping, dining and patronizing them. It could, at the very least, add a little normalcy to a decidedly not normal time.
We at The Hartwell Sun plan to stay the course, to continue bringing you the most up to date local information we can about the pandemic and to continue supporting and partnering with our local businesses to keep Hartwell thriving through a strange and difficult time. We can and will survive this.
We are your local newspaper and we are here for you Hart County.