By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If I were to express a nagging anxiety about the “good news” we keep hearing about the possible/potential end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that we need to avoid getting ahead of ourselves.

Good news is coming at us by waves these days.

COVID infections are declining; so are hospitalizations; death rates are falling.

Are we getting complacent? I hope that is not the case.

Yet, that is my fear as governors around the nation — including Texas’s Greg Abbott — make these bold declarations while removing statewide mandates for Americans to wear masks. Sure, Abbott and others tell us to take all the necessary precautions, such as practice social distancing, washing our hands, keep sanitizer handy (and use it!). Are we heeding the advice or are we listening only to what we perceive to be the end of a national nightmare?

We must not get ahead of the scientists who are working their butts off searching for more cures for the disease that has killed 530,000-plus Americans and sickened millions more of us.

Hey, I want a return to normal, too. I want to see family and friends more frequently. I want to spend more quality time with my granddaughter.

However, I do not want others to put all of that in peril by declaring a premature victory in this war against an invisible killer.