Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to [email protected].
COVID is not over. And even a mild case of COVID is potentially debilitating and dangerous to your health in the long run. One death by any other cause may make headlines while thousands of COVID deaths get barely a whisper. I urge President Joe Biden to reconsider lifting the COVID emergency declaration.
Without it, millions of Americans will be forced off of Medicaid. Then they will pay out of pocket for vaccines, medical treatments and COVID tests. Meanwhile the New York Times says more than 450 people a day are still dying in America. If airplanes were crashing every day, killing the same number of people there would appropriately be days of mourning nationwide. Instead society decided to move on without a thought for those kids orphaned, those people widowed, and the hundreds of thousands left behind.
Some people dismissively assert that it’s mostly affecting elderly and already chronically ill people. Reminder: Maine is the oldest state in the union. For that reason, the BDN ought to be putting better attention to this issue. I blame the media that scarcely anyone wears a mask. Leaders and media can do better. Many people are staying home to stay healthy, you have the power to make public places safer again.
Haydee Foreman
Blue Hill
