People would like to trust their elected officials. That sort of begs for a punchline next, doesn’t it?

In today’s world, even those people chosen to represent the people of the community find it necessary to duck and weave like Ryan Covert in the boxing ring.

The courthouse/county building has had at least one high-ranking official test positive for the coronavirus. The county only released this information after dozens of callers to our offices told us of court cases being canceled because of it. There is no shame in that person joining the list of millions who have gotten the virus.

The person infected was one of the stronger advocates for facemasks and social distancing, yet this person still became a statistic. She has been quarantining and recuperating. She is doing all the right things.

What isn’t right is that county government and the powers at the courthouse have felt compelled to treat this as a secret and a scarlet letter. Of course, it is easy to stand behind HIPAA regulations and privacy issues, but when there is a risk such as this to the community, it should be made as public as possible while doing what is truly needed to give the patient privacy.

No names needed to be thrown out there or even the specific job or position the person holds. She didn’t do anything wrong. She just got sick.

But by hiding the facts and not making the general public aware, the officials have given the persons who may already question or distrust them a good reason to point a finger and say, “See, they only worry about themselves.”

We have mostly very good people in county government. We believe they want to do what is right and what is best for the community. This time they missed the mark badly.

The hospital releases as much information as possible every day about the number of COVID-19 cases in the county. The county should have done the minimum and told the public the honest truth instead of hiding in the shade. If the community loses faith in you, this may be part of the reason.

— RV