My body, your choice?
Re: “Inside state’s growing anti-shutdown movement,” April 27 news story
It is true, as Mr. Joe Oltmann says, that if he makes the wrong choice regarding staying at home and other public health methods to inhibit the spread of the coronavirus (such as wearing masks, social distancing, and the like), it may end up killing him. But, he says, that’s his choice. The problem with his way of thinking, and all those who think like him, is that his choice may end up killing me, and all the others who he may unknowingly infect. And all those who are infected by those he infects, etc., etc., etc. His wrong choice has ramifications beyond his own body.
Paul Chessin, Denver
A man arguing against shutdowns says, “If I choose the wrong way and it kills me, I’m sorry, but I made a choice.”
He needs to put that in writing so that the doctor treating him in the ICU can say, “We don’t need to bother with this one. He made his own choice.”
Kathy Taylor, Louisville
Philip Varley says he spent a day sitting outside Denver area emergency rooms with a video camera to gather evidence that the hospitals are not overcrowded, and on April 19 he joined the protest. Thank you, Mr. Varley, for confirming that the stay-at-home order is working exactly as Governor Polis hoped it would — our health care system has not yet been overwhelmed. I’m sure our front-line health care workers are extremely grateful for the sacrifices being made by the great majority of the population. It’s called sacrificing for the common good — a true American value.
Terry Buck, Broomfield
It’s not all about you. Those that join the anti-shutdown movement forget that there are people who could become infected with the virus because you refused to “stay-at-home.” You can be asymptomatic and pass the virus to others! I am 82 years old and I have not been out in more than five weeks in order to protect myself and others. So, it’s not all about you!
Cindy Garcia, Lakewood
Do the folks shouting “My Body, My Choice” still expect our brave health care professionals to risk their lives treating them? Maybe they should all carry a “please-let-me-die” card.
Gerald W. Berk, Evergreen
Readers left feeling exposed by others
To all the mask-less walkers, runners, bicyclists, dog walkers, parents with kids and strollers on the trails and sidewalks, and to the mask-less grocery shoppers:
I am 62 years old and the sole caregiver for my 89-year-old mother who has dementia, and I’d like to know which of you will care for her if I get sick? When I turn my back to you, step away, or fail to respond to your greeting, please know I am not only trying to be safe, but, yes, I am silently judging and reproving you for selfishly putting me and my mother at risk. Very few of us know whether we are carriers of this virus.
Do I like wearing a mask? Is it comfortable? No, but the discomfort pales in comparison to the devastation spreading this virus can cause. It is such a small sacrifice that I can perform. I wear it out of respect and consideration for you and your families, and for the first responders and medical and other essential workers sacrificing so much more. Please do the same for me and mine, for our essential workers, and for our neighbors and our community. Is it so much to ask?
Meryl McCormick, Westminster
If we all wear face masks in public, we will all have a minimum level of protection, but this only works if we all wear them. Bicyclists of a certain age seem to think themselves the exception, and I say this as I return from the park where a 20-something bicyclist without a mask coughed in my face as she whizzed by going about 15 mph. She probably thinks she’s going so fast there’s no contact between her and the rest of the world, but she just speed-spit on me and it’s not the first time it has happened. Someone should give her and her kind tickets and an education.
Susan Williams, Lakewood
I cannot believe Vice President Mike Pence’s arrogance and blatant disregard for established protocol during his recent visit to the Mayo Clinic. Even though he had previously been advised of the clinic’s policy, he proceeded to willfully ignore the mask-wearing protocol while possibly endangering the health of doctors, patients and other visitors. Pence stated that because he and his close associates have been frequently tested, and those tests were negative for the virus, that he did not pose any danger and didn’t feel a mask was necessary.
What on earth was he thinking? He is the head of White House Coronavirus Task Force. Has he spent so much time with Donald Trump that he has taken on the president’s “magical thinking?”
What a slap in the face to all those health care professionals who work night and day saving lives.
Thank God they take their jobs seriously.
Kristi Schwindt, Littleton
Renters need assistance and it can’t fall on landlords
On April 13, the Denver City Council unanimously approved a symbolic proclamation urging state and federal governments to impose a moratorium on rental payments for those who are unable to pay due to the pandemic. In response, Gov. Jared Polis explained, correctly, that he does not have any legal authority to suspend rent payments or intervene in private contracts.
Although well-meaning, these free housing champions are devoting precious time and energy in pursuit of ludicrous proposals. And they have apparently identified a convenient scapegoat to bear the entire financial burden — the rental housing provider.
How do they envision payment of the property owner’s expenses — mortgage, capital improvements, HOA dues, property taxes and insurance? Do they also propose free groceries? And by what rationale do they justify confiscating private property?
For obvious reasons, these impractical measures must be rejected in favor of policies that actually work.
In his March 20 order, Gov. Polis wisely allocated $3 million toward short-term housing assistance. He also encouraged local governments to join efforts in making rental assistance more widely available. I urge elected officials to stand with Gov. Polis by supporting equitable and effective financial assistance programs that ensure stable housing in their communities.
Kimberly Gibbs, Gunbarrel
The Sweden approach
Re: “Sweden sticks to “low-scale” lockdown,” April 14 news story
Thank you, Sweden, for showing the world how to maintain critical thinking in the face of fear-driven chaos. Thank you, Sweden, for showing the world how to have respect for, and trust in, your citizens. Thank you, Sweden, for showing the world how to not let the media-political-narrative-loop impact your most critical decisions.
It is telling that the country that builds the world’s safest automobiles has taken what the rest of the world considers to be the riskiest path in its response to the pandemic. We can only hope that what Winston Churchill is believed to have said still rings true, that Americans always do the right thing, only after having tried everything else.
Roger Pioszak, Boulder
Strict lockdown in NZ
New Zealand recognizes a nation’s economy can recover; those who have died cannot.
David L Stevenson, Denver
Let’s get back to school
I feel strongly that closing our schools for the remainder of the school year is a costly approach that will hurt our children and our community. In France, despite their much tighter control of individual actions and business activities, schools are being reopened.
Children are less susceptible to COVID-19. Teachers are potentially at risk but they could and should protect themselves as health care professionals and others are doing. Our children are behind most of the Western world in academic achievement.
We have been expecting their parents to manage their online schooling even though they may be working at home or soon returning to work. Some are quite ill-equipped to do so and have no alternative solutions for child care. Summer activities like camps and enrichment programs may be canceled.
We should be taking precisely the opposite of our current approach — sending our kids back to school now and considering keeping schools in session throughout the summer. This could be an opportunity to help our kids catch up. It could also provide more, not less, control of their social distancing behaviors than an unstructured, unsupervised summer.
The budgetary implications might be heavy, but in this period when we are making so many out-of-the-norm investments, this should be one.
I know from my work with refugee children, our current approach means that the underprivileged will fall further behind because they lack the parental support and attention that more advantaged students are receiving.
Catherine Anderson, Denver
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