Shameful rhetoric

Herb McMillan did a good job in the House of Delegates but his column on COVID-19 was beyond shameful. It was dangerous and irresponsible (The Capital, Dec. 16).

He is advocating restrictions on the ability of our county’s leadership to respond to a crisis that has already killed over 309,000 Americans. There were record death tolls of 3,367 Americans on Wednesday, and 3,406 on Thursday.

These numbers will certainly rise as travel and visits increase over the holidays. We will pass 350,000 dead by the end of the month.

It is absolutely disgusting to hear Republicans who routinely dismiss these deaths as being the elderly or people with other health conditions, or who glibly say that most people who get sick survive.

Theelderly and other people at high risk are not expendable. And this ignores the plight of people like an acquaintance of minewhowas not elderly, and did not have other risk factors, and did not die, but spent four weeks in the hospital, much of it in intensive care, and another two weeks in rehabilitation.

Even if he avoids the serious long term effects that a lot of COVID survivors experience, the medical costs are absolutely ruinous.

Protecting public health is an essential responsibility of government and we cannot tie the hands of those in charge. McMillan seems to be exploiting a health crisis to further his political career. He has permanently lostmy support. FRANK CESAR BRANCHINI Edgewater