By Dotty Reilly, RN, MSN
Retired Pinon School Nurse

Saturday, I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store. As I was heading into the Smith’s in White Rock, three young teenage boys were exiting the store.

One of the three wore a mask, the other two did not and they were not social distancing.  This is of particular concern to me even though I am in good health despite my 77+ years of age.

Looking at today’s virus count for Los Alamos County as listed by the New Mexico Department of Health, our county has 75 known cases of the virus. Guess which age group has the highest number of cases – the 10-19 year olds. This group has 22 cases!! – nearly a third of our total.

I realize this is an age group that seems to recover well but consider how they can contribute to the spread of the virus to the rest of us.

As a retired Los Alamos school nurse, I know we have great kids in our community. Please prove me right. Cooperate with the effort to keep your community safe. Wear your masks, social distance and remember all those classes in hand washing I did with you.