CORONAVIRUS UNKNOWNS MAY BE EVEN MORE ALARMING

As scary-high numbers of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio continue to climb, there may be a false sense that at least we know what we’re dealing with each day when new counts are posted at 2 p.m. h We hear anew that many thousands of Ohioans have tested positive for the virus, that hundreds more have been hospitalized, that dozens more have died, and we think we know the terrible toll this pandemic is taking. h But we really don’t; far from it. h

There is a saying that we don’t know what we don’t know, and in the case of coronavirus, what is currently unknown may have the longer-lasting impact.

The surest way to reduce the harmful impacts of COVID-19, both known and unknown, is to do all we can to halt its spread.

Safe health practices have never been more important.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION LUIS SOLANO/USA TODAY NETWORK; AND GETTY IMAGES

well as letters to the editor expressing the thoughts and opinions of our readers.

Among them last week was a column by Karen Powell Sears, a Denison University sociology professor, who kicked off a new series of columns to help define the key terms for a better understanding of race and racism in society. She wrote about how systemic racism in the form of restrictive covenants in property deeds kept Black families from buying homes.

And her column ends with a thought that could stand as the theme for the entire series:

“People shouldn’t be afraid of talking about systemic racism and white privilege. My mother always says, ‘You have a better chance of beating something when you are not afraid of it.’ A country cannot improve things that it refuses to see.”

We are grateful to Terrance Dean, a community representative on the Dispatch Editorial Board, for proposing and coordinating this series.

We believe that most Americans yearn for a place where we can safely speak and be heard, where rigorous debate is encouraged, and so is respect. Our research shows that people want opinion content to enable smart conversations and to engage the community in thoughtful discourse — not just with ink on paper or pixels online, but also in community forums.

That is our goal with the changes we are making in our approach to opinion content.

Thank you for sharing your opinions, and as always, thank you for your support for local journalism.

Alan D. Miller is editor of The Dispatch. amiller@dispatch.com @dispatcheditor