Let’s all admit it: Our lives were rudely interrupted by this pandemic. Many of us tragically lost our jobs. Many people across the nation were evicted by landlords without a shred of compassion or understanding. It makes sense that people want this all to be over.

But we are just not ready. We still have people complaining about masks. We still have people throwing house parties where everyone is drunk and coughing all over each other, not to mention cases are rising daily. That’s why we should not have entered Phase 3.

I understand why someone might advocate for it. I know that lots of parents want to send their students back to school, and people want to go to church. They want to be able to socialize like they used to. They want to return to normalcy.

These are scary times for so many. People wish to see their lives how they were before this awful pandemic struck. But, I feel at the very least, we should still be in Phase 2 for a little longer before diving into Phase 3.

We don’t even have a vaccine for the virus yet. However, President Donald Trump said he has a plan. According to Stat News, the president claimed a COVID-19 vaccine would be available by the end 2021.

As a whole, Louisiana has been affected by so much within such a little amount of time. From being hit with the pandemic in spring of 2020 to the devastating effects of Hurricane Laura, our state has been ransacked. Lives are in turmoil, people are dying. People have been left without homes, jobs and food.

As of September, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, the state has had 159,304 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 5,143 deaths related to the virus. Our parish has experienced 5,952 confirmed cases of the virus with over 130 deaths.

We shouldn’t move into the next phase of recovery prematurely, just because some people are tired of following the rules and regulations. As long as we have people refusing to wear masks and social distance, these numbers will keep rising.