LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear readers,

It’s been a trying year in 2020, but there’s still a lot to be thankful for. As we approach Thanksgiving, we’d like to know what you’ll be giving thanks for as you celebrate the holiday. Write to letters@sun-sentinel.com and let us know.

Lead by example

As a small business owner who believed our state representatives would do whatever they could to help their constituents through this pandemic, it was with great dismay, disappointment and disgust that I watched them stroll into their windowless chambers today for their swearing-in, and lost count of how many were not wearing masks. They are sitting much closer together than six feet as well. As we watch the COVID-19 case numbers begin to rise throughout the state, worry what the winter will bring and whether it will be the final nail in the coffins of many small businesses, I was stunned at the blatant elitism on display. These elected officials had rapid tests: a luxury neither the students, nor the faculty at my dance studio have before plugging along for another round of intense classes in masks. I hope voters remember this next time these legislators come around asking for your support. If they truly cared about you or your business, they would learn from former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who said after his stay in the ICU sick with COVID-19, “I hope that my experience shows my fellow citizens that you should follow CDC guidelines in public no matter where you are and wear a mask to protect yourself and others.” At the very least, I expect these legislators to set an example for the students across the state who spend most of their day in masks. To not do so is simply unacceptable.

Suzanne Citere, Lighthouse Point

Just what doctor ordered

Kudos to Rabbi David Shabtai (M.D.) for his article pointing out the potential dangers/consequences of recently trending ideas regarding the notion of COVID-19 “herd immunity” that seem to be gaining favor, especially in Florida. [“Herd immunity isn’t a strategy, it’s giving up on one,” Nov. 17]

Among other things, he points out that the effects of having experienced the virus seem to far exceed the actual course of the event. Studies are revealing that a substantive percentage of cases are resulting in serious, long-term damage to many organs, and particularly to the vascular system.

My true sympathies do lie with Gov. DeSantis and the tourism/service-based business concerns, which seem to have inspired our complete reopening. Yet, until we have had widespread immunity conferred by use of the very promising vaccines that have recently appeared, the herd immunity approach continues to carry with it the paradoxical possibility that it may kill or debilitate, through primary or secondary causes, a lot of people upon whom the recovery of our economy depends.

Stephen McAnney, Tamarac

Then again …

With the ongoing COVID crisis, thank God Ron DeSantis is our governor! In September, he wisely limited local governments’ ability to open and close businesses on a whim. Now, some other states are starting to lock down again. Didn’t we learn anything from the futility of the previous lockdowns? In those states, livelihoods continue to be destroyed.

To the left, any mention of repairing the economy during COVID is heartless. They obviously don’t understand that to care about the economy is to care about human life, since the economy is how life is sustained. Protect the only high-risk group — the elderly with underlying conditions. Let the rest of America get back to work!

Joseph Trubinsky, Boca Raton