22 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 19, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Story: Astoria Girl Scout honored for leadership and
dedication to community service
Summary: The Girl Scouts of Greater New York
(GSGNY) honored 17-year-old Despina Anastasiou
from Astoria as the 2020 Future Woman of
Distinction for her extraordinary leadership and
dedication to community service.
Reach: 3,250 (as of 11/16/20)
editorial
The painful reality
Slowly but surely, COVID-19 is
growing once again across New York
City. Th e dreaded second wave has
arrived.
A vast number of cases have broken
out on Staten Island and in other
clusters across the city. Th e COVID-
19 positivity rate is creeping back up
toward the 3 percent mark, a threshold
which, if the city crosses it soon, will
likely prompt Mayor Bill de Blasio to
order public schools closed and shift ed
to remote learning indefi nitely.
Th e increase in cases prompted
Governor Andrew Cuomo to order
all restaurants, bars and gyms closed
by 10 p.m. statewide to prevent people
from being out late and potentially
spreading COVID-19.
Th e governor also declared, two
weeks shy of Th anksgiving, that all
household gatherings be capped at a
10-person maximum — though that
mandate is about as unenforceable and
impractical as a mandate could be.
We knew it was going to get worse
in the fall. Elected offi cials and health
experts have all said as much. Th e
eff orts the city and state took to beat
back the virus the fi rst time was
extraordinary — but so very painful
— in myriad ways.
For months, people complained
about the measures taken to limit the
virus’s spread. We agree that some of
them, such as the ban on indoor dining
throughout the summer, went too
far and too long.
People now bristle over the new regulations
and question what the government
is doing to them. But we’ve
lost the plot if we think that government
is the sole problem here.
Th at mask-wearing has become a
matter of politics, not public safety,
has helped spark new clusters of outbreaks.
Next to the virus itself, the
rabid defi ance and carelessness among
some over having to wear a cloth over
a face to protect other people has been
the most nauseating part of this entire
pandemic.
State and city government can
respond to this tragedy and provide the
physical needs to answer it. Mandates
and executive orders mean nothing if
we choose not to follow them.
So we all face our moment of decision
here — not as a city, but as a people.
Do we take responsibility for this
crisis and each other by masking up
and socially distancing even during the
holidays? Or do we keep throwing caution
to the wind and put the entire city
at risk of further disaster?
Photo via Flickr/Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Offi ce
The increase in cases prompted Governor Andrew Cuomo to order all restaurants, bars and gyms closed by
10 p.m. statewide to prevent people from being out late and potentially spreading COVID-19.
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