This is an opinion column

Anyone who has raised children remembers the nighttime battle. The little one has had her snacks, her bath, her books, and her special blanket tucked in around her. Her stuffed animals are in their designated places on the bed.

Rabbit here, teddy bears there and there, and an elephant to the left of the pillow, wearing a Crimson Tide jacket with a football hanging on by its last thread.

Now. Time to go to sleep. Not so fast, weary parent. You thought you were done, but the child is rising up again. And, in a clumsy analogy I’ve just created, so is COVID-19.

Just when we thought it was over and we could let our guard down, here it comes again, a case here, a case there, enough to worry us. Each time someone coughs in our presence, the way I do when the seasons change, we look for for the mask we thought we’d left in the glove compartment or the side pocket of our purse. Not there? We’ll order some new ones. We may need them. We probably will.

The medical community tells us that the new strain of COVID is not as severe as the others and that the vaccination will take care of it, at least enough to keep us out of the hospital. I believe them. I’ll soon hold my arm out for the shot, just like I did the other five times, or is it six?

I trust the doctors and the health department professionals who not only had to deal with a raging pandemic, but also with a raging public who bought into conspiracy theories, like the one about how taking the shot meant that microchips were being put into their bodies without their consent. They worried that these chips would be used to track people. Well, cell phones already do that. GPS knows where you are.

Why trust virologists instead of Dr. Google? I studied literature in college and got my teaching credentials. They studied ways to keep us well and healthy. I read Emily Dickinson. They read scientific papers. Virologists know their stuff, but even they couldn’t have imagined they’d be facing a pandemic on its third round, or is it fourth?

If the virus roars back this fall as experts predict, let’s do what we did before: Give each other space in public places. Mask up. Be mindful that others may not and respect their decision even though it may be different from your own.

And if there are new conspiracy theories, read about them and toss them in the garbage along with your other trash. We still aren’t sure how the virus came into the world, but let’s let the experts tell us how to deal with it now that it’s here.

My British friends have faced COVID three different times with that equanimity they’re known for. When six of their family members living in three different cities came down with the virus, they shared information about medicines that helped, herbal teas that soothed sore throats, and support for each other via zoom and phone calls. Nobody panicked.

They did what the British have always done: They kept calm and carried on. Maybe this time we’ll follow their lead.

You may contact Beth Thames at [email protected]