COVID-19 fatigue can be deadly

It's been over nine months since Illinois' first case of COVID-19. Nine months ago, I could not have imagined the world we live in today. More than 600,000 cases and 11,000 deaths later, our state now faces another deadly wave. Many Illinoisans have legitimate concerns about where we go from here. It is difficult to watch friends and family struggle with isolation, eviction, job loss, small business closure and placing their children in virtual-learning environments.

In an ideal world, our government would provide the necessary resources to fight this disease: universal health care with adequate contact tracing, continuous stimulus checks to help small businesses and families stay afloat and national leadership that encourages mask use rather than touting conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, this is not the America we live in. We must all hold each other accountable now, because no one is coming to save us. Just because we are tired of thinking about COVID does not mean this virus is going away.

Please, wear a mask, socially distance and keep your social bubble small. No one has the freedom to endanger others' lives; we must all strive to find our collective humanity so we may do what is hard and what is right.

Matthew Downing

Elgin