Dear Editor,
First, I’d like to thank you for providing your readers with this forum. Under “normal circumstances” I would never consider responding to a Letter to the Editor. However, we are no longer living under “normal circumstances”
Open Letter to J Rodriquez
I have been in the field of Occupational Healthcare/Industrial Medicine for more than 32yrs. I am currently semi-retired doing consulting work for an Arizona-based medical practice and I have been a Vail resident for 22 years.
I must admit I was stunned by your recent 4 paragraph Letter to the Editor in the July Vail Voice. It is unfortunate that you and many others in our community chose to ignore the medical/scientific facts of this virus.
SARS-Cov-2/COVID-19 is not one of the “widespread problems and epidemics” you mention. It’s a pandemic and I would encourage you to consider its definition.
I do agree with the assessment of the diseases you mention as devastating both on a human and financial level. However, no one who has come in close, continued contact with a cancer patient has ever “caught cancer” from that person. The same holds true for the other kinds of illnesses you mention. And, let us not forget that some of the medical conditions you refer to can be addressed early on with certain lifestyle changes and/or mental health intervention.
I did not bother to fact check your CDC numbers simply because your comparative argument is not valid. I have no doubt that your numbers are correct. But let me encourage you to revisit the CDC website (or any other reputable medical/scientific sources) and become educated about COVID-19 and the current and long term impact this virus has, and will continue to have, on our world community unless we all do our socially responsible parts to stop the spread.
Sad to say that it will be people like you and those of your mindset that will cause this pandemic to rage forward and cause lasting pain and suffering for so many, including my friends and family. You indicate that “This has gone on too long”. Again, thanks to you and those who chose to carry on by ignoring the medical/scientific facts will indeed be the reason this virus will continue to “go on too long”.
I leave you with a recent story about a wedding held in India were the virus is raging. Hundreds of friends and family members were scheduled to attend the ceremony. Parents had spent vast sums of money on the event. Days before the wedding the groom felt ill showing many of the common symptoms of COVID-19. However, due the number of guests/family who had already committed to attend and dollars parents had spent they insisted that the wedding take place as scheduled. Result: Nearly 120 guests tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the wedding and the groom was dead within two days.
Rick B., BS, M.Ed.
