Letter to the Rockville Centre Herald Editor (Dec. 23-29)

Creating Covid chaos

To the Editor:

Out for a drive on a bone-chilling day, my wife and I passed several urgent-care facilities on Merrick Road with lines of people out the door, waiting to get tested for Covid-19.

With the Omicron variant surging, elected officials issuing dire warnings and the media complicit, there’s a frenzy at the testing venues. It’s a safe bet that many of the folks on line are feeling fine. Why do they want to be tested? For others, the power of suggestion may create faux symptoms.

Will their sniffles disappear if the results are negative? (Or do they keep getting tested until they get the result they want?  After all,  “they’re free.”) What’s the purpose of waiting on line except to tell friends they’ve done the right thing? Hurray for us! We’re good citizens. Of course, there will be some who test positive, but so what? While Omicron spreads rapidly, at this point, reports are it’s not virulent.

Now we’re on the verge of another fine mess brought to us by elected officials and augmented by the medical establishment. The mayhem depletes the supply of tests for those who should be tested, places a burden on beleaguered medical staff, makes it take longer to get results and lines the pockets of the testing companies. And the shutdowns, which are occurring sporadically (think Radio City and some Broadway shows), are another blow to the economy. The last 22 months have made people more skeptical of politicians (an unsavory lot) and therein lies a healthy negative.

About this, the politicians should beware. Most of us have been vaccinated and boosted and are willing to wear masks. We’ve given at the office. We’ve done the right things. What more do they want? But they want more. They want to show us that they care, and can get us to a better place. What they really know, and are effective at, is how to create chaos. What the people want is normalcy.

I’d like to administer my own Covid test to a select group: the elected officials and their medical brethren. (Get in line, Dr. Fauci.) Instead of jabbing the slim stick up their nostrils, I’d choose a wide pole up their … well, you get the idea.

Ed Schwartz, Rockville Centre