Would you rather be lucky or good?

To the Editor;

The above question was attributed to Lefty Gomez, who pitched for the New York Yankees in the 1930s. Luck is success or failure brought on by chance rather than through one’s own actions. Good refers to something or someone of high quality or conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Lefty said he would rather be lucky, but he readily admitted to having one of the lowest batting averages of his era. Perhaps he should have taken more batting practice.

Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, we here in Piscataquis County have been lucky. With about 16,000 people spread out over roughly 4,000 square miles much of the time we are naturally distanced. That fact, plus relative separation from the more populous areas of our state and our moderate adoption of basic disease prevention behavior has given us the lowest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and the lowest number of cases per capita of all of the counties in Maine.  

However, over the past 10 days, our case count has more than doubled. Also, in a small town not far from here, located in a sparsely populated area, a wedding and reception involving 65 people has generated 59 cases of COVID-10; sadly with one death. These are red flags, showing that we need more than the random luck of our rural location. We also require the active good of using the only weapons of self-defense that presently exist: physical distancing and wearing masks when around others, frequent handwashing and avoiding large gatherings, especially indoors. Crossing one’s fingers is no defense against this dangerous virus.

Richard B. Swett, MD

Dover-Foxcroft