CMU COVID criticism unwarranted

I am commenting onmatt Mertz’s guest column that appeared in the Sunday, October

11, 2020, edition of themorning Sun’s opinion page.

Some delight in finding fault with the decisions of policymakers and provide numbers to support their position.

Matt is a goodman. I, however, do not agree with his analysis nor the considerations policymakers need to consider.

Matt criticizes the decision to open Central Michigan University this fall. He cites gross numbers as his basis for criticism. He does not dig deeper. He may not be able to dig deeper because the health system may not provide the numbers.

Matt points out that fromaugust 17th to October 8th there have been 6 added deaths due to coronavirus and many more cases. What we do not know is whether these people who died were sick on August 17th and we do not know whether these people even came into contact with Central Michigan University students, faculty, or staff. It is implied CMUIS the cause, but no good analysis.

Moreover, this is a time when the K-12 education systemopened. Howmany nursing and assisted living facilities opened their doors to COVID patientswho came fromoutside the county? What impact did that have on the numbers?

There are other considerations as well. First, the education of the students. Second, the employment including pay and benefit for faculty and staff, and third, the economic health of the Centralmichigan area. Shutting down or limiting the University instruction would have been harmful to all of these considerations.

I have been impressedwith Bob Davies as President of Centralmichigan University. I have seen him set course direction consideringmany variables.

Many knowledgeable people concurred in the decision. Davies is a good decision-maker. A president of a University, constrained by many variables, has about three degrees of freedomin any direction, andmaking choices in that environment takes intelligence and skill.

Matt criticizes business people, especially those who serve alcohol for being less responsible. I agree. I hope they have learned their lesson.

Matt asks how should students be expected to act “responsibly.” The answer is, that, in my opinion and observation, 98% of CMU students will act and are responsible. 2% neverwill and do not care. 2% of the student population on campus is a big number, but far fromthe entire student population. Do you make decisions based on the significant minority or do you decide based on the very significantmajority?

What about the rest of us? What is our responsibility? Depending on our health and age, we need to look out for ourselves. Ifwe are in a vulnerable category, we need to be extra cautious looking out for and taking care of ourselves: social distance, wear masks, proper hand washing, avoid places where there are many people close together, realize that many cases of COVID arises in clusters and avoid being in any part of such clusters where one person may infect many, who then infect others.

J. David Kerr Mt. Pleasant