Criminals stealing unemployment benefits as claims surge

125137829_web1_Coronavirus--1-

2 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Luzerne County; no new deaths

PLAINS TWP. &mdash; Mr. Bill doesn&rsquo;t like to wear his protective mask.
				Neither do I, and I suspect, most people don&rsquo;t enjoy wearing them either.
				Regardless of the protective value the masks provide &mdash; for the wearer and for all others &mdash; the mask sure isn&rsquo;t a fashion statement. And they can be very uncomfortable, making it difficult to breath at times.
				But wearing a mask when in public and around other people is a minor inconvenience and one we all should be willing to endure.
				As Luzerne County moves on in the yellow phase of Gov. Tom Wolf&rsquo;s economic reopening plan, we all can&rsquo;t wait for that magic green phase. Most feel that&rsquo;s when we will be home free &mdash; to be able to do almost everything we could do prior to the COVID-129 pandemic.
				Not exactly.
				We are already seeing spikes in coronavirus cases in other areas that have opened up their doors to customers. Florida, for example, in just three counties, saw record increases in COVID-19 cases just this past week.
				The fact is, the virus is still around and it will continue to sicken people and kill people if we all don&rsquo;t behave.
				I&rsquo;m not sure what will happen as the summer arrives. But I suspect that many, if not most people, who have been self-isolating for nearly three months will be anxious to be &ldquo;normal&rdquo; again.
				That means bars and restaurants and stores will be opening up and people will be walking through those doors.
				But I also think that many others will choose to stay away. They will continue to refuse to put themselves at risk for the sake of a sit-down meal in a restaurant or karaoke night at their favorite watering hole or the 50 percent sales at their go-to retail outlets.
				The virus has killed more than 105,000 Americans. It has sickened thousands more. There still is no cure or vaccine to protect us. So we must continue to mitigate &mdash; wear those masks, social distance and be careful.
				We all want our normal lives back. We want to be able to go where we please and do what we enjoy without fear of this virus.
				But is it right to think that we are in the clear?
				I&rsquo;m not sure. No medical reports have come out telling us it&rsquo;s safe to return to normal life. There has not been an &ldquo;All Clear&rdquo; siren blaring where I live.
				So what do we do?
				I can see many people willing to take the risk. These people believe that they probably won&rsquo;t get the virus, but if they do, they will recover and move on.
				I see others who will not be willing to take that chance.
				It&rsquo;s a lousy situation. And because of all the uncertainty, our lives will suffer and the economic recovery &mdash; especially the small business world &mdash; will struggle until we can all feel safe again.
				I keep hoping and praying for the good news to come &mdash; that the virus has been eradicated, or that it&rsquo;s run its course, or that a vaccine has been found.
				We all want the same thing. We all want this pandemic to end. We want to live our lives again.
				Let&rsquo;s hope that day is near. Don&rsquo;t scoff at people who still want to wear those masks and social distance themselves.
				We&rsquo;re all in this together, right? Be tolerant. Be safe.
				And hope for the best.

Coping with Corona: Are we near the end of the pandemic?