LARSO Executive Director Bernadette Lauritzen has COVID. Courtesy photo

By BERNADETTE LAURITZEN
Executive Director
Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization

COVID Cometh, this time for me. Yes after 28 months of being overly cautious, and outwardly Type A … it got me. Why this melodramatic opinion piece you might ask?

If you don’t know me, I run the two local senior centers, the Betty Ehart Senior Center and the White Rock Senior Center. I have stated from the beginning of COVID, for us a calm Sunday morning in March of 2020, that I would be transparent about the local centers. 

While working in the White Rock facility someone started the rumor that I had COVID because they saw my car in my driveway during the week. I LIVE walking distance from the WR center, but I promised from that moment if I had COVID I’d be writing weekly columns for the paper from my bed. Alas, the time has come.

I had tested negative on Friday morning as we often have exposures and test for our own sanity and the goal not to spread it to our members. Then when I woke up Saturday sounding hoarse, I tested again, and it was positive. I was sad and devastated to say the least. Yesterday involved a HUGE amount of contact tracing, notification, sanitizing requests of the County (thanks Bob and Lamarz), notification and reporting documents to the County, the State and 25 employees.

Personally, I implemented the mask rule as rates began to rise dramatically around graduation. Yes, it was me who put it back in place. Look, I was once called Hitler during the pandemic, because of the mask order and at that time the implementation was not my call. This time, I felt the responsibility to make the call. Now that COVID has me, can you imagine how I would feel if I had spent all of Friday unmasked around my people?

Los Alamos, we are now and AGAIN, in the HIGH positivity rate again, if you didn’t know. So, when I see our community bashing our Smith’s pharmacy teams, yet I see some 30 people in a line, most unmasked, I am sad to see and hear the vitriol. If you want things be better, if you don’t want the line, wear a mask, get a vaccine and don’t wait until the last minute to refill a prescription. They aren’t doing this to spite you. It isn’t about politics, it isn’t always about pay or bad management, but it IS about COVID.

Our local businesses are being ravaged yet again by this virus. It affects us EVERY DAY. If you can take simple steps to stop this, for the love of your fellow man, please do it.

I’m stepping off the soap box now, be safe and make good choices.