Maskless citizens threaten the health of others Governor simply trying to save people from themselves
I respond to the Tuesday letter “Plan to prioritize medical care went too far” from Brad Pence, who suggested an equivalence between unhealthy lifestyles and careless handling of guns with refusing to wear a mask or social distance during this pandemic.
He suggested that someone having a heart attack because of an unhealthy lifestyle or suffering a careless gunshot wound might also be delayed access to health care in keeping with letter writer Rheta Gallagher’s Nov. 20 suggestion that those who won’t wear a mask or social distance go to the back of the line if they need health care.
I say Pence has created a false equivalence. Has any health care worker ever been afflicted with a heart attack while caring for a heart attack victim? Has any health care worker ever been afflicted with a gunshot wound by caring for a gunshot victim? Can having a heart attack or suffering a gunshot wound spread to your family or your neighbor or coworker?
You cannot catch a heart attack or a gunshot wound from someone else. Those who refuse to wear a mask or social distance are not merely risking their health. They are risking the health of others, including the very health care workers they will expect to save them if they become seriously sick.
Steve Ayres, New Albany
After reading an article about the GOP seeming dissatisfied with our governor (“Trump hints that Dewine should face primary challenge,” Dispatch article, Nov. 17), I am amazed that this is happening. I am a registered Republican who did not vote for him but he has commanded my respect on how he has handled the pandemic.
I realize that a lot of small businesses (mostly restaurants and bars) have been financially affected, but the whole world has been affected in ways no one has imagined in their lifetime.
We have an outgoing president who denied this virus, was not willing to lead and we have his minions in Congress and Senate who back his conspiracy theories. The state legislature and representatives in the House who back him will only lead Ohio down a dark path.
We seem to be a state that wants to return to the ’50s and deny progress. If we have candidates like Jim Jordan, Rob Portman and all the radical right-wing backers of Donald Trump, we are on a path of being left behind.
To support this is an embarrassment and to criticize the governor for trying to save people from themselves is ridiculous.
Robert Connor, Columbus
Gov. Mike Dewine shows he is the adult in the room