Letters to the editor: Coronavirus, Republicans
Symptoms
I simply don’t understand how it can be accurate with the widely known reality that there is a large number of asymptomatic people in our midst. Secondly, I question the positive numbers. Since supposedly only symptomatic people are to be tested and only 25% are positive — Oregon’s rate is a mere 5% — what is causing all the symptoms in the other 75-95% of the people tested? Is the test being administered that poorly? I am eagerly awaiting the results of antibody testing as I have a suspicion that the virus may have arrived on the West Coast late last fall and some “herd immunity” has already developed in the region.
Max Dean, Boise
Republicans
Darn Democrats. Oh but wait, for a minute let’s talk about those lovable scamps in our state Legislature, the Republicans. They pass and our governor signs into law anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, anti-affirmative action bills. These laws are collectively racist, homophobic and sexist. Not really anything new in Republican circles, been going on for decades in our state and nation and continued by our current President and his followers.
Governor Little’s signing them into law affirms to the extremist legislators who wrote the bills and their followers, and people across our nation, that Idaho continues to be a home for racism, sexism, and homophobia. They refused to pass the Idaho is Too Great for Hate license plate bill, they are consistent.
Those darn Democrats, not only were they against these now laws, they were for more health care, a living wage, fully funded education pre-K through college, more access to mental health care, relief from the food sales tax and property taxes, and help for infrastructure. It’s pretty obvious which party was all in for us and which party was all in for extremism, division, and hate. Time to start voting accordingly, from local through federal positions. We need people representing us.
Dallas Chase, Boise
Global health
If we can “flatten the curve” on coronavirus infection, we may be able to avoid overwhelming our health care system. But for many people living in nations with fewer resources, even a few critical cases will overwhelm their health care system. And there are others with little to no access to health care at all.
As Congress crafts an economic stimulus package, that package must include resources both to support partners in developing nations deal with the immediate crisis and to strengthen their health care systems in the long run.
We already fund USAID programs and multilateral organizations that do this well, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and USAID’s bilateral tuberculosis and child survival work.
Congress must prioritize global health systems, alongside the domestic response. People living in poorer settings must not bear the brunt of this pandemic.
Jessica Specht, Boise
Medical directive
Here’s a challenge to the Rush Limbaughs, Laura Ingrahams, Britt Humes, Ammon Bundys, Heather Scotts, Tim Remingtons, Daryl Wheelers, and Freedom Foundationers who think the pandemic is overblown, or an Obama, Democratic or George Soros-inspired hoax, or a Fauci-driven plot to undermine the president or dismantle the Constitution or embolden the government to swoop down in black helicopters to complete a federal takeover: Put your money where your mouth is. Sign and publish a medical directive that denies you advanced medical care when the alveoli in your lungs crystallize and you start to suffocate and die. This will at least free up ventilators and other needed medical equipment for the rest of us who believe in science, understand that we are all in this together, and have the ethical sensibility to behave responsibly to stop the spread and limit the devastation.
Douglas Siddoway, Ashton