We were warned of a second wave of the coronavirus. And it seems the start of that wave might be upon us. As stated in an article on the front page of our Friday edition, in the past two weeks Sullivan County has seen an increase in the number of positive cases of coronavirus.

As of Friday, the county was reporting 86 active cases. While community-wide transmission is occuring, Public Health Director Nancy McGraw stated that there are no large clusters at this time.

Also stated in last Friday's article, the statewide positivity rate is at 1.39 percent, the second lowest rate of any state in the country per Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center.

While this is good news, we must remain vigilant, especially with the holiday season approaching.

McGraw highlighted an important message for residents to be safe during the holiday season; large gatherings are not recommended.

Health officials across the country continue to warn about “COVID fatigue,” which has developed from us being cooped up and restricted from a lot of the things we enjoy. We know it has been difficult to not be able to hug loved ones and friends. It has taken a toll on all of us.

But we must continue to fight the urge to take risks.

While at times it might seem like continuing to follow social distancing guidelines and the advice of medical professionals is too much to bear, the only way we will get out of this crisis is to keep the numbers down so we don't overwhelm our medical resources.

And also, we must continue to protect those most at risk, both from a medical perspective, as well as our small businesses that could not take another extended shutdown.

We commend the work of county officials keeping us updated throughout the crisis.

Sullivan County Public Health Services and Sullivan BOCES is hosting a virtual school community forum tomorrow at 6 p.m. to provide answers to commonly asked COVID-19-related questions.

For information on how to join via Zoom go to www.sullivanny.us/news/get-your-covid-19-questions-answered.