Letter: Don’t play ‘Russian Roulette’ by putting on Labor Day

Dear Editor,

The current effort by a few to resurrect our annual Labor Day Celebration defies all logic and wisdom and amounts to playing “Russian Roulette” with our local population! Over 157,000 people in the US have DIED from the COVID-19 infection and that number rises daily with no end currently in sight. We have been very fortunate up here that we have had few cases of the virus and no one locally has died from it, so far! Nevada as well as all of our neighboring states are presently out of control with COVID-19 infections. As of today, 08-03-2020, Nevada has had 832 fatalities from the virus and 688 of those fatalities have occurred in Clark Co., which has been particularly hard hit with over 42,000 COVID-19 cases. Any LD celebration held here will certainly attract like-minded folks who have no regard for others, especially from Clark Co.! Our local kids will certainly be attracted to the festivities and the bottom line is that it will be a miracle if some of them don’t pick up the infection and carry it to school as well as their families and others. Our local school officials are having to jump through hoops to try to keep our schools safe in the coming school year and an LD celebration will surely impact their effort! Our Chamber of Commerce did the right thing, others need to follow their example of prudent leadership by prioritizing our local citizens’ safety over shortsighted actions like this.

There will be another Labor Day in 2021, let’s make sure that everyone can celebrate it then and not play Russian Roulette with our community, now is the time for responsible leadership!

Bob Werner – Pioche resident for 23 years and hopefully a few more!

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