Guest View: Make sacrifices to help everyone

Rick Breuer is the CEO of Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet and wrote this for the Pine Knot News.

This is a hard time for all of us. Last spring, many of us prepared for what we thought would be massive numbers of Covid patients. That never came to pass, and we have all begun to enjoy some of the “normal” activities of life as we used to know it. But we can see that we will be dealing with this virus for some time, and it can be difficult for us personally and professionally to keep up our spirits and not let our guard down.

The prevalence of Covid has never been higher in our communities. We understand the disease much better, and there are more tools for health care providers to use in treatment. But it would still be best if we all take appropriate precautions with respect to physical distancing and wearing masks.

We can weaken the chain of transmission, but it takes a consistent effort. The holidays we celebrate over the winter with family and friends may look very different. And we still need to remain active for our physical and mental wellbeing. But please, don’t be reckless in your decision making. We are taking risks every day in life, with most of them being very small. We can’t eliminate every risk. But just be careful, and make the sacrifices we need to make now to help us get through to the other side of this pandemic.

There is no doubt we will be victorious over Covid. But we owe it to every family who has to mourn the loss of a loved one to take all reasonable precautions. I am sad to see how my kids’ lives have been altered in so many ways. I am sad to not see my parents in so long. I am very sad to think about not following our traditions with family during the upcoming holidays. But we will survive those sacrifices. And maybe we’ll learn to appreciate them even more in the future.