Seasons greetings to the world are being sent by the newest variant of the COVID virus: omicron. What may we expect from this newest illness? Well, it certainly won’t be bringing world peace or even world travel as many countries including the United States make moves to ban incoming traffic from parts of the world where the variant has surfaced.

Our little piece of earth in Butler County is being severely shaken by its predecessors with record numbers of cases filling our local hospitals and putting tremendous strain on the medical staffs. Oh, it’s just the flu? Or maybe it is all a conspiracy to deflect attention away from the other forms of ugliness which permeates our country at this time.

If you had family in the hospital who are having to wait for care or if you were on a waiting list for a ventilator to help you draw your next breath, maybe you wouldn’t be so suspicious of the dedicated folks working double shifts and putting themselves at risk so you can call them out as scam artists and fakes while they try to make sure that next difficult breath isn’t your last.

Reports on Monday from the hospital and the health department said there were 70 COVID patients at Butler Memorial Hospital. We understand all available ventilators are in use. Management personnel are taking on responsibilities that would normally fall to staff during average times but the urgent health care workers are stretched to the max.

They probably wouldn’t be in much of a holiday spirit right now even if people were acting more appreciative as they should be.

But even while working their tails off, they have to read and listen to the knuckleheads out there who dare to question the validity of this pandemic. How many people have really died of or with COVID they ask. How many people have tested negative versus those who tested positive? Stupid questions deserve stupid answers, and it is time this nonsense stops.

Yes, it is true people have died and more continue to die because of the illness every day. No, the hospital isn’t getting paid to lie and say people who were shot in the head died of COVID so they get paid extra for the report. And really the reason your neighbor who works in health care is working overtime week after week isn’t because they hate being home but because they hate seeing people suffer and die.

Instead of the horrible ridiculing of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, start asking how you can better support them. Show them some respect and appreciation, ’tis the season we hear. Make it the season of love and compassion. Bless those who work so hard for all of us.

— RV