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First of all, I’m going to go into some of the reasons why Gov. Walz put the stay-at-home order into place. For one thing, he just doesn’t want us out there with other people, as no one knows where they have been, or if they’ve been exposed to COVID-19. Number two, and this is my theory, you have to have a healthy society, before you can have a healthy economy. Look at what happened. When the virus hit, the whole country practically had to shut down, and the economy went down almost overnight.

Some of you complain about the flu, and this is a lot worse than the flu.

If some of you people complaining about the stay-at-home order would watch Gov. Walz and some of the speakers on his programs, it might cause you to wake up.

I’m lucky, as I am retired, so I don’t have to work anymore. The fact is I could have had the COVID-19 virus because I got sick on Jan. 3. There are several things. For one thing, I have an autoimmune issue. I know I can have issues off of that. Number two, I was having my heating ducts cleaned, and I could have had issues off of that. Number three, I know I had a hard time breathing and getting enough oxygen. I was isolated at that time because I was so sick. But on the other hand, I know I was getting sick last fall in October. I know another thing was I took a lot of bed rest.

I have to bring up another issue. COVID-19 seems to strike in large crowds. It’s settling in meat packing plants now. Smithfield Meats in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is closed down, with 100-plus workers with COVID-19. Social distancing is impossible.

It seems like I hear of another meatpacking plant being closed for COVID-19 virus every day in the news. I will say this much, COVID-19 attacks the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and other organs in t he body. That’s why the death rate is so high. I’d much rather stay home and be safe than take a chance on getting sick with this virus. Some people had better prepare for a long road. A vaccine is the only way out of this, as Bill Gates said.

It will take a year to a year and a half. Our county has canceled two events for this summer. There will be more! I forgot to mention that the North Iowa Band Festival is canceled and Rochester Fest. There will be more!

Gilbert Gilbertson

Albert Lea