The Santiva Chronicle publishes opinions and letters on topics that are important to Sanibel and Captiva. They may be submitted via e-mail at news@santivachronicle.com. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Santiva Chronicle.
City Council and Citizens of Sanibel,
Sanibel could take an example from the local government in a small town in upstate, New York, about the important information they give their citizens on Covid 19. Tupper Lake, New York, is a rural community with 3,667 residents. The Adirondack Daily Enterprise ran a story on November 11, 2020 identifying a specific location, the times, and days local residents may have been exposed to Covid 19. People who had been present at the location on the days and times indicated were encouraged to call the County COVID-19 hotline for contact tracing.
The article went on to report that, countywide, they had 10 new cases for the week, a total of 50 active cases from the beginning of the outbreak, the number of people who died since the outbreak (2), and that those deaths happened that week.
I ask you, City Council Members, if a small, rural community in upstate New York can provide all of this information, why can’t we get the same information?
As the pandemic is expanding and snowbirds are returning, I believe we need to know what is going on in our community. Merely knowing the number of cases is not acceptable.
Dan Perkins
Resident of Sanibel
For the past 14 years, my husband and I have enjoyed three weeks of vacation in Sanibel, beginning the week before Thanksgiving. This year, we reluctantly cancelled our trip due to the Coronavirus.
I fully understand that one or both of us could be asymptomatic and bring the disease unknowingly to the island. I was neither comfortable with that nor with the possibility of contracting Covid-19 and not being able to come home.
I fully understand the concern expressed in the letters in today’s edition of the Santiva Chronicle regarding the possibility of snowbirds bringing the virus to Sanibel and Captiva. I sincerely hope that doesn’t happen, and all of you remain as safe as possible.
It’s important to sacrifice our own pleasure and comforts for the benefit of others. Don’t travel, wear masks, social distance out of respect for others, if not for your own safety.
We hope to return to Sanibel next year, and I hope you don’t experience more cases of the virus due to the lack of consideration of other people.
Donna Jorgenson Farrell
Broomfield, CO
New York Governor Cuomo has fought COVID-19 since it’s arrival through very strict measures.
NY even has a tracing app for smartphones. Our Governor has not offered leadership and he has even prevented local governments from making many of its own regulations. Tupper Lake is helped by NYs regulations while Sanibel is hindered by our state government.
Perhaps the City Attorney can recommend ways to make stricter regulations on Sanibel that will not
be in violation of state rules. I hope the City Council will discuss this at the December meeting.
Fully agree. It’s helpful to know how many have contracted Covid but how many of these cases resulted in deaths? How many cases remain actuve?
I agree 100% with Dan Perkins, (as well as the others who have replied). We need to institute true contact tracing, and receiving information as Dan has described is crucial. Because Gov. Desantis continues to do an abysmal job of managing covid, it makes it nearly impossible to control this pandemic. In addition, most of our elected officials, including Senators Rubio & Scott, are no better. Change is long overdue in Florida, our leaders have failed us.
I agree with the above request. I’d also like to know how many people who had covid on sanibel have fully recovered.
Victoria Fuchs
I agree with having more information for the citizens of this town. We have more cases every day. We also have more information on how to handle this virus. Doesn’t it make sense to let us know where cars have occurred so that we can know if we’r have been exposed ABC’s take the proper actions, not just for ourselves, but for others. The only way to slow the spread is to contact trace and inform people who may have been exposed. it is the responsible action to take.