Thank you to Gov. Tom Wolf, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine and Education Secretary Pedro Rivera for their leadership and their tough choices during these trying times.
The easier, and quite likely the more popular choice, would have been to keep Pennsylvania open. The more difficult choice was to rely on health care experts and forecasting data to guide the administration’s direction for our state.
Let’s not forget Wolf did not act alone in taking drastic steps, such as closing schools, to slow the spread. On the national level, the Trump administration, along with governors across the country and across party lines, issued stay-at-home orders just the same. Because of those choices Wolf made, our hospitals were not overwhelmed in Pennsylvania as they were in other parts of the country and around the world. The curve was flattened. We are now seeing the gradual and responsible reopening of Pennsylvania.
I’m no expert on communicable diseases. I’m not interested in telling anyone what choices to make for themselves. But I am responsible for two young lives, one that only entered this world six short months ago. The worry is real to me. As much as I would have loved to have spent the last couple of months visiting with family and friends, there is no social outing and no errand that would be worth exposing myself and risking infection to my family.
Annie Briscoe
Washington Township, Westmoreland County