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Seaford needs to prioritize COVID-19 response

January 11, 2022

Happy New Year? I remain undecided.

In 2021, Seaford Mayor David Genshaw directed its solicitor to search for another so-called important issue to bring to Seaford after the 2017-18 Right to Work fiasco. Now Seaford has passed ordinance 8.9 addressing the dubious need to improve the fate of fetal remains after abortions and miscarriages despite current Delaware law addressing these matters. Without offering any objective proof, Genshaw maintained that current practices offend the “morals and values of our community.”

On Dec. 14 by a 3-2 vote, the Seaford City Council passed the ordinance in violation of several Delaware laws, according to Attorney General Kathleen Jennings as well as the Delaware ACLU. Councilmen Jose Santos and James King were strongly opposed.  

Then during a Dec. 30 “special” (“emergency” per Bryant Richardson) meeting, the city council voted to stay enforcement of the ordinance indefinitely. How important could the issue be only to be hastily shelved two weeks later? However, in contrast to this recent flailing over a fallacious issue, the COVID-19 exponential surge is a monster issue which deserves immediate and ongoing attention and action by Seaford. Please note: On Jan. 3 the CDC reported more than 1 million new cases of COVID. The current seven-day average infections exceed 550,000; more than 800,000 of our loved ones in the USA have died. While the Omicron variant may be milder than previous strains, its huge transmissibility is causing many more infections eventually resulting in hospitalizations (now topping 100,000 per day) which threaten health system overloads and possible failures. This is a real problem worthy of attention and action to try and head off the problem at every level, even in Seaford.

What should the City of Seaford do in response to this important problem?

1. Make the City of Seaford a model for the COVID battle by: Requiring all city personnel to receive full doses of one of the three U.S. vaccines with exceptions only for legitimate medical reasons, requiring all city personnel to receive a vaccine booster when eligible, conducting PR and physical campaigns to make the City of Seaford a 100 percent vaccinated city, and requiring all city personnel to strictly follow CDC guidelines for quarantines, testing, masking, etc., following a COVID infection

2. Require K95/N95/similar masking in all indoor venues

3. Volunteer use of city properties as sites (as needed) for vaccinations and testing

4. Set up ongoing awards and recognition for both vaccine providers and recipients

5. Other necessary measures to protect the health and welfare of citizens.

Mayor Genshaw gladly accepted the offer of money from anonymous people willing to fight litigation against the dubious fetal remains ordinance. Let’s have the mayor and his anonymous friends step up to finance a legitimate worthy cause: Fighting the COVID-19 explosion.

By setting such an example, our small city could embellish its claim to be “The Perfect Place to Start” and begin to make my 2022 outlook brighter.

Dan Cannon
Seaford
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