To the Editor:
I thank this site for publishings my op-eds of March 5, 11 (“Changing our habits could help protect our health” and “Preventing spread of Coronavirus in The Villages”). Since then, there have been more on point on this site, even one referencing writers Darryl Fears and Brady Dennis for the Washington Post in their lengthy article, “‘I’m a hand-shaker’: Many older Americans are playing down the coronavirus threat while others opt for safety.” The latter didn’t make this “friendliest hometown” look too bright in terms of taking precautions to prevent conditions that would foster the spread of the virus. I was even contacted by a national news network from its D.C. bureau for an interview, which I provided.
But why should Villagers be any more prudent if their government officials have not been, at least up to the last fews days when we have seen closing of movie houses, The Savannah Center, The Sharon, even the arts and craft fare scheduled now. When I had email dialogue with Messrs. Rohan and Baier before I wrote what I did, I was told that we should follow CDC guidelines or what the local county public health officials had to say.
Of course, these authorities never specifically addressed downplaying skin-to-skin contact among athletes after contests or participants in recreational activities as I proposed, or to cancel any event at the recreations centers of groups or clubs where gatherings were sure to take place. Since then, many of these gatherings have been cancelled but to no thanks from Village officials, and appearing in these pages was an article, captioned “Villagers advised to practice ‘social distancing’ due to COVID-19”, quoting Sanford Zelnick, Director of the Sumter County Health Department, to limit social contacts and promote physical distancing. These centers remain open.
But I am going to propose one step further that may bring scorn from Villagers, though it is better to be safe than sorry. My proposal is to shut down the indoor space of all recreation centers for a finite period of time, so as to eliminate the need for any physical contact in these spaces whatsoever. Tough times as we are in require tough decisions that might for a period of time upset our daily lives. So be it. In fact, one of my colleagues, Lee Krochnauer, suggested canceling up to one month’s amenities fee while these centers are closed. I will amend that to say, why not eliminate that portion of a month’s amenity fee that goes to support the day-to-day operation of all such centers.
Again, these days are unlike any of us have experienced, except perhaps when this country was in WWII in the 1940s. Just today (March 15), at 7 a.m. when all Publix stores opened for the day, the parking lots for the stores were jammed with cars, and they were full of shoppers, stocking up on needed essentials if they were still on the shelves (many were empty), again as the country was at physical war like we were over 75 years ago. Even the checkout line that early in the morning extended from the cash registers to more than 100 feet away!
Again, Messrs Baier, Rohan and other Village high ranking officials (that includes the Morse family), it is about time to be even more proactive than you all have been due to pressure no doubt placed upon you by Villagers and writers of op-eds and other similar articles within and from outside The Villages on what is going on here. The Villages is the largest retirement community of its type in the nation, if not the world, so let’s take the lead in showing all such communities how proactive we here in The Villages can be to prevent conditions allowing the virus to exist and spread … if it comes here as it surely will.
Miles Zaremski
Village of Dunedin
