The euphoria of finally transitioning to the “Green” phase of the social/economic restrictions mandated by Governor Tom Wolf has been somewhat tempered by the reality that “Green” does not exactly mean “Go.”

At the Monday, June 8th county press conference, government officials and community leaders strained to put the best light on the continual constraints that all of us in Lycoming County must still muddle through.

The chairman of the Lycoming County Board of Commissioners, Scott Metzger, led off the parade by emphasizing how hard the county has worked to attempt to make the best of an arduous situation. He emphasized that the County Commissioners are not sitting pat on the ‘Green’ as this is not sustainable for economic survival. He noted the letter that all three commissioners signed and sent to Gov Wolf on May 26th did produce positive movement in the right direction. Other counties have followed Lycoming’s lead.

Judge Nancy Butts and Sheriff Mark Lusk followed by highlighting that business in the courthouse is moving forward, albeit again, with caution. Masks are still required, and foot traffic is highly discouraged. Much can be done virtually or by telephone, and this is strongly recommended. [For updates on the Court House, check out lyco.org/lycoming-County-Courts-and-COVID-19-information]

Two non-county officials were represented and provided very interesting perspectives. Dr. Rutul Dalal, MD, Infectious Disease Specialist at UPMC in Williamsport, had very reassuring words that, for all intents and purposes, there is no great danger out there right now in our area. The 41 UPMC hospitals across the state tested over 30,000 people who displayed symptoms, and less than four percent tested positive. The UPMC hospitals tested 8,000 who were simply routinely checked who showed no symptoms, and 21 tested positive. Dr. Dalal summarized this by noting you have a much higher chance of getting in a car accident than coming down with COVID-19. He also emphasized that the public can be assured that the hospital is thoroughly safe.

The chairman of the Williamsport/Lycoming County Chamber of Commerce, Jason Fink, noted how faithfully the county has followed all the guidelines passed down from federal and state health officials, and the extremely low rate of infection is a testimony to that fact. But now (!), he pleaded, “We need to live life now! We need to get beyond the green phase, get back to living. Businesses need our support now.”

Which was the plea echoed by Commissioner Metzger in his closing comments. He noted that the virus is a reality we have to live with and adapt to, but at the same time he said, “We are not going to shut down, we are not going to have our rights violated, we are going to respond responsibly, and move in the right direction.” But he added the difficulty in knowing how to move forward is the lack of clarity from the state. What has to happen for “Green” to go for good?

This lack of clarity may be by design. Behind the scenes, it would appear that our state government wants to continue to maintain these mandates as long as possible. Expect the goalposts to keep moving back. (By way of tongue in cheek) I offer to our state officials a proposal that instead of picking another color, let us consider shades of green — think of this as COVID Crayola. Each new shade brings fewer restrictions. Right now, with work and social restrictions still in place, we are in Maximum Green. Soon there will be some slack due to political pressure, which will result in fewer restrictions, and we will transition to a Middle Green. Following this pattern, there be fewer positive tests recorded (Jungle Green), fewer still positives (Forest Green), more political pressure (Olive Green), light at the end of the tunnel (Spring Green), etc. I know the state officials may want to continue this indefinitely, but even the Crayola box does eventually run out of shades of green. Let’s pray we don’t go to Gray.