‘Just the way it is’? Sedgwick County leaders can’t shrug off these COVID-19 numbers

In his latest address to the Sedgwick County Commission, health officer Dr. Gerald Minns sounded downright apologetic.

“I’m sorry we have to come and give you this kind of news,” he told county leaders via Zoom during a special meeting Thursday. “But the numbers are up considerably over the last four or five weeks.”

The rate of positive tests for the coronavirus in Sedgwick County is nearing 20% — an all-time high.

Area hospitals are seeing unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 patients and are starting to implement “surge plans” to create more space for the sick.

Intensive care units are full. Nurses are in short supply. School districts are reconsidering in-person classes.

Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, called the situation “terrifying.”

And yet, many residents act as if the pandemic is over — weddings with hundreds of unmasked guests, church services without face coverings or social distancing, bars and restaurants filled to capacity, large family gatherings.

“We need to think about what interventions we could do that would decrease the frequency of that happening,” Minns told the commission.

The “we” almost certainly will be the doctor himself, because commissioners once again shrugged off the warnings.

“It’s kind of sad that . . . people are not cooperating when you’re asking,” said Pete Meitzner, chairman of the commission. “So that’s just the way it is, apparently.”

Just the way it is?

That’s futile, ineffective, dangerous thinking, and it needs to stop.

The coronavirus ushered in a public health crisis like nothing we’ve ever experienced — at least not in our lifetimes — and it requires courageous, unflinching leadership and resolve.

Unfortunately, county leaders have shown a pattern of do-nothingness from the start of the pandemic — stalling on an initial stay-at-home order in March, overturning a statewide mask mandate in July, and punting crucial health orders to Minns rather than sending a clear, decisive message to the public.

It’s OK to hope for the best, but we can’t hope away this virus. And we can no longer assume everybody is going to do the right thing — because many are not.

It’s time to stop looking the other way when businesses ignore public safety directives, such as not enforcing face masks or social distancing guidelines.

County Health Director Adrienne Byrne urged residents to vote with their feet and their wallets by refusing to patronize businesses that defy the county’s emergency public health order.

“If they go into a restaurant and they see that the seating capacity hasn’t changed, just turn around and walk out,” Byrne said. “Get take-out from someone that is adhering to the social distancing and the masks.”

No one wants another shutdown like the one we had last spring. To avoid that, we need to do everything we can to protect one another.

That may require tighter restrictions on gatherings, including sporting events, which Minns could enact in coming days.

And it will require strong, unrelenting support from county officials, who should affirm Minns’ orders with a for-the-record vote of their own.

We need spines, not shrugs.