Follow guidelines, stall the COVID-19 pandemic

I am 83 years old and I suffer from a serious incurable lung disease known as Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. This lung disease causes my blood oxygen saturation level to drop to unacceptable levels if I do any exercise at all, like standing up and walking more than a few feet. The low levels are dangerous to my heart and other organs.

To help with this I use an electric mobility scooter to get around and I am also on supplemental oxygen 24⁄7. If I contract coronavirus I am sure that I will die.

When I go outside and see people too close to me and/or not wearing masks, it’s like walking across a minefield. My wife and I have been self-quarantined for 55 days now and we appreciate what a hardship self-quarantining is.

The frontline workers in this “war” like nurses, doctors, and anyone else who has to be in direct contact with infected individuals certainly deserve all of the kudos that they are receiving and more because they are facing possible death every day that they go to work.

I also feel that the unsung heroes in this war are non-frontline people who observe the guidelines laid out by some of the more intelligent governors in our nation.

These guidelines “suggest” that we observe safe-distancing, wear face masks, wash hands frequently, and avoid unnecessary trips outside the home. I feel that following these practices is the only way we are going to stall this pandemic until a vaccine is found to end it forever.

Michael Larsen, Fort Lauderdale