Do you remember, when COVID-19 was a new and scary thing in the community, how people pulled together?

Drive-through birthday parties, yard signs honoring graduates deprived of a ceremony, and meals for those on the front lines, were part of this local support.

There was a spirit of togetherness and perseverance in the face of fear and uncertainty. And it was not so long ago: 18 months.

Please read an article in Section C this week on front-line workers at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital. Times have changed.

In an interview, hospital president Esther Desimini spoke of the early months of COVID care: restaurants provided food, people made and donated masks, Girl Scouts gave cookies.

Now, she said, “everybody’s … worn out.” The workers especially, and the public also, after dealing with COVID for day after day, week after week, month after month, for a year and a half. We thought it would be over by now but we declared victory too early.

The COVID fatigue has shown up i...