Sound Off for May 2, 2020

True heroes

Speaking as a retired RN, heroes are not people who are on a schedule to work and draw a paycheck as I did. I worked through the AIDS epidemic in 1990s, SARS, influenza, hepatitis, etc. My husband fought and was wounded for this country. The men and women on the front line who volunteered to defend this great country are the true heroes. Health care workers have a job. Quit making them heroes. Many people don’t want that for various reasons.

Not just a number

Over 2,200 people died yesterday. It’s not just a handful of people. It’s over two thousand human beings! Almost everyday! Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers... young, old, all nationalities. They are fellow neighbors and fellow Americans. It’s time for us to stand up for all those who we lost and protest our president.

Show you care

Servers and wait staff wearing mask is the right thing to do to protect the people that they come in contact with. Only 1% of the U.S. population has been tested and over 60,000 people have died in a couple of months. Also we now know that you can carry the virus without symptoms.

Too soon

To the non-essential businesses opening, I want to let you know I won’t be a patron of your establishments ever again. To put profits above people’s lives is not the way responsible businesses do things. This virus can live on clothing and other surfaces for hours to days, as the doctors and CDC have warned us. You will not ever know how many people were made sick or possibly died because they patronize your establishments.

Proper distancing

To “not immortal,” not sure where the flyover TV footage was shot that aired on the news. My dad and I went to the one in Ocean Springs. All the medical personnel on the rooftop had on masks. All of the people in the parking lot had masks and were all practicing social distancing. It was certainly a beautiful thing and it was obvious how thankful the workers were to be recognized.

Wrong number

To “Open the country,” You are mistaken by a hundred-fold. The percentage of deaths is not 0.058%. It’s 5.8%. That is, for every 100 persons infected, 5.8 persons die. That’s a hundred-fold more serious.

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This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Sound Off for May 2, 2020."