Letters: Coronavirus, Gov. Inslee, Tyson plant and more | May 10

Get more testing before reopening

I respectfully disagree with Sunday’s Editorial (4/26/20) that Gov. Jay Inslee needs a specific plan for re-opening now.

Some outdoor activities with precautions are fine. But we just learned this week that ventilation systems can blow droplets more than six feet and that virus-containing aerosols linger in still air. So our current guidelines for indoor employees and customers may not be enough.

Yes, people are getting desperate for income and to keep their businesses going. The Herald could focus on other solutions: Do our unemployment offices have everything they need to process applications quickly? Are local banks doing enough to help small-business owners get PPP loans? Do those who must apply to get a stimulus payment know how to apply? Does the Benton Franklin Health District have enough volunteers to help with contract tracing yet?

Inslee’s working hard to get more testing supplies. When we’re testing enough (500 people per day in the Tri-Cities) and know more about this virus, we can plan for re-opening. Until then, let’s help each other get through this.

Time to recognize federal workers

May 3-9 is Public Service Recognition Week 2020 – a time to recognize our government employees and retirees. With all we are going through with COVID-19, now is an especially opportune time, I believe, to say “thank you,” to these dedicated workers and retirees.

We know about Department of Energy employees at Hanford and the Bonneville Power Administration; but what about those in the Social Security Office, post offices and the air traffic controllers and security screeners at our Tri-Cities Airport. Additionally, there are many others, e.g., with the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Treasury, VA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

If you checked the weather forecast today, thank National Weather Service federal employees. If your child played with a toy today, thank the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission federal employees who administer our toy safety standards. If you travel to a national park this summer, thank the park rangers.

Many services we rely on, across the government spectrum, are made possible by America’s federal workforce – employees working for all of us. While we may not know all they do for us, I hope they know their service is appreciated. Again, thank you, current and retired government employees.

Accountability for Tyson needed

Thank you for your editorial in Sunday’s paper supporting Tyson workers. Many of my friends in the refugee community are essential workers there. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that our national government, which continues its effort to shut down the refugee program, would show no concern for these people’s health. Equally frustrating is the late response of our state government.

The refugee workers are grateful for the living-wage jobs provided by Tyson. Their loyalty is admirable; they deserve the same loyalty from Tyson. They come from places where it wasn’t safe to speak out for their own rights. Now is the time for those of us who understand the responsibility of citizens in a democracy to speak up for them. If you care about these newcomers and their families, please sign the petition. Go to change.org and search for “Shut down the Tyson foods meat plant in Washington state.” Let’s hold Tyson accountable.

Don those masks for all our sake

COVID-19, This is to all the people who don’t take this virus seriously. I’ve been to Fred Meyer and Ace/Griggs and there are too many people not wearing masks. Wake up, people, you might have the virus and not know it. Please, if you have to go out in public wear a mask. We need to be as safe as possible to control this virus. Think about how many people that have already died from it. It won’t go away unless we do our part. Please be safe and respect other people. Thank you.

Another lifelong Republican is out

As a lifelong Republican, I have watched and listened with disbelief as Trump has (I was going to say systematically but there has been little or no system involved) destroyed his credibility. From childhood, I was taught that our president knew what he was doing. Some presidents have shocked me, others disappointed me, but none has literally destroyed my confidence in his ability to manage the country as Trump has done. For the first time since I graduated from high school more than 60 years ago, I feel that this country is without a leader. It is with heavy heart that I will vote for a Democrat for president this fall.

Will Trump fans heed his advice?

Given that President Obama established a pandemic task force, created a manual on how to manage a global pandemic to minimize exposure, warned Trump that the United States’ biggest threat to national security was a global pandemic and given that Trump disbanded the task force, threw the manual in the garbage, bungled the federal government’s response, continually makes false statements regarding the pandemic, gives out false medical advice about a drug he may own stock in and now suggests injecting ourselves with disinfectant. Given his refusal to accept any responsibility whatsoever, my questions are: When does his behavior become not only criminal but treasonous? How many more people have to die before his supporters wake up to the fact that the man is unfit for office?

The only silver lining I see is that at this point, the only people who listen to anything that comes out of his mouth are his hard-core supporters, and if they actually take the advice of Dr. Trump, our November elections should produce a new president.

Not an Inslee fan, but stance spot on

While I have never been a supporter of Gov. Jay Inslee, I believe he and his team have been spot on with their handling of COVID-19. I believe that by enforcing “Stay home, Stay safe” ideas and social distancing, the rate of infections and deaths from the virus are lower than they would have been.

I realize people are anxious to get back to work and to open their businesses, but by obeying the laws, they have helped to keep the cases lower than they would have been. I hope they can take solace in that fact. I know this time has been hard on us all, especially those who got the virus and their families.

I heard an “authority” on COVID 19, say “it’s just the flu.” True, it is a strain of the flu virus, but as a family member of someone who was very ill with the Coronavirus, my opinion is: It. Is. Not. Just. The. Flu.

Is Twitter hard, Mr. President?

I just got a letter from the White House, signed in magic marker by the president himself, stating my stimulus payment had been deposited. I already knew this. The letter also credited “working around the clock to protect hardworking Americans like you from consequences of the economic shutdown and ensuring you have support you need to get through this time.” Oh, really?

Mr. President, does spending most of your time on Twitter, placing the blame on others for your botched response to this pandemic and potential economic collapse of this country constitute hard working? Is ignoring initial intelligence briefings and medical experts, then downplaying the severity of the pandemic considered hard working? How many deaths have resulted so far due to your inept initial federal response?

I hope people will wake up before the November election and rid the country of your incompetence. In the meantime, I think I’ll have a glass of bleach.

More statistics needed on the ill

Every day we read about how the number of cases are increasing, and yet not a single incident has been reported about an employee or customer involved in an essential retail business getting COVID-19. I find this to be a mindboggling statistic because with so many people working and visiting supermarkets, Walmart, Costco and other stores, that not a single person has gotten sick.

The above begs the question on whether people have gotten sick and it’s being covered up or have we gotten to the point that workers and customers are so good at social distancing we should easily make an attempt of opening more businesses.

What has become obvious is the local information pertaining to COVID-19 is insufficient because the number of people getting ill, in conjunction with the number of deaths, isn’t giving Tri City residents an idea of what risks we are facing throughout our community. The only somewhat specific information given to us are the number of healthcare workers coming down with the virus, but with no information on the severity of the illnesses or how many recovered, and the amount of people infected in nursing homes.

Hopefully, with your help we can obtain more information.

Not all of us are following rules

Today (4/24/20) I went into a store for the first time in over a month, Walgreens on 27th Avenue. I needed something desperately, and they had what I needed. I wore my mask and was standing on the dots they have on the floor for social distancing waiting to pay when all of a sudden this woman reaches over me and grabs a drink out of the drink cooler. I gave her a “what the heck look” but didn’t say anything. I paid and turned around to collect my purchase that same lady was standing right next to me at the register.

I am immuno-compromised and have stayed out of all stores until today. Hopefully it will be a long time until I am desperate enough to go back into a store because this lady’s careless behavior scared me.

If people don’t follow the guidelines set up to keep us all safe, then we will never contain this virus. You are putting other people’s in danger by not following the rules put in place to keep us all safe. Just cause you do not show symptoms does not mean you (or I) are not a carrier.

This reader says Inslee not a leader

Considering the way our state has been managed and (the) lack of actual planning during the COVID-19 issue, I come up with a severe lack of leadership. I seriously doubt that any of the Western governors have ever read or studied the experts on leadership. When you know it all, why study those who might know more?

In the 1980s, Peter Drucker wrote a book called “The Effective Executive.” In this book Drucker points out that the effective executive is the person who focuses on contribution.

Drucker in his book clearly implies that the person who focuses on efforts and who stresses his downward authority is a subordinate no matter how exalted his title and rank. This is a good description of Gov. Jay Inslee. He has exhibited an egocentric approach to dealing with our state and continues to demonstrate that he is over his head and without an actual plan for getting this state back on track and operating.

It concerns me that we will be limited in getting back to normal in any near future date and that will only assure a crippled economic status for us long into the future.

Is that meat safe?

All I have is a question. How safe is it to eat meat that has been handled by those who have COVID-19?

Help food banks, not Didier suit

While I consider myself to be a Christian and can sympathize with Mr. (Clint) Didier’s distress at not being able to participate in “Easter rituals,” is that the most important thing God wants from us? My parents taught me, “it’s easy to be a Christian Sunday mornings, but God cares more about who you are outside the church walls the rest of the week.” We are called to be better people, to be part of the solution, not the problem. It appears Clint is more focused on his crops and opening businesses at the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus into our community.

What has Clint personally done to make our community safer? Nothing? Clint is not a medical professional nor infectious disease expert. He is someone who is lawsuit-happy, trying to sue the governor for doing the job he was elected to. Did Clint apply/receive a small business loan? Is Clint keeping his workers on payroll, does he provide medical coverage? If his workers become ill, it will be up to taxpayers to bear the medical costs for him. Has he provided PPE for them? Will he be writing off his crops as a loss on his taxes, while his workers are struggling to feed their families and keep them virus free?

Instead of giving to Clint’s GoFundMe account to sue the governor, give your money to our local food banks or community charities.

Franklin County put loser on team

(Commissioner Clint) Didier needs to get it together! “COVID deaths being inflated.” Look at the facts! “Believes he was sickened by the virus in February.” Get tested and prove it! $18,000. in “Go-Fund-Me funds” — to what avail to eliminate COVID-19, or is this just another buck in your pocket? And to top it off, working with Eyman! Franklin County, you have a real loser on your “team.” Get rid of this fabricator and move on.

Shutdown good time for repairs

Instead of politicians and their minions beating up on one another regarding when we will get back to normal, why don’t we take this time to fix some things that really need repair— our roads, bridges and other infrastructure?

With the restrictions on, traffic is greatly reduced and construction crews would be safer and could follow the minimum touching and contact rules as needed.

It seems to me this time is an opportunity to get some things done that we have complained about for a decade.

100,000 dead a “very good job?”

What kind of person calls 100,000-plus dead a “very good job?”

Downplaying the coronavirus threat for two months, our president finally listened to his public health advisers and declared a national emergency on March 13. While it had been under discussion for at least three weeks previously, he didn’t invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) until March 18. Additionally, as of March 31, he still has not invoked the Defense Production Act to the degree that he could to get the private sector to deliver supplies to frantic governors.

On March 30, Trump’s public health advisers said that even with strict countermeasures, deaths from the coronavirus in the United States could be between 100,000 and 200,000. This is worse than even the worst-case scenarios just a month ago, and a spectacular failure of leadership for a president who claimed “we have it totally under control.”

On one of his updates, our president reasoned that, because 2.2 million Americans could die without any attempt at controlling the virus, “if we can hold that down to 100,000, or between 100,000 and 200,000 we all together have done a very good job.”

I beg to differ with you, Mr. President. If the U.S. loses 100,000 lives, you will have done a very bad job.

Why are doors at church locked?

Why am I locked out of my church? If I can walk into a grocery store with a mask and practice social distancing, why can’t I do the same in my church building?

Broadcast church services are not an answer. How do I receive communion,”the bread of life,” via an electronic screen? How does a child get baptized on a video? What happens to couples desiring to marry in a church ceremony?

Open my church now. Freedom of religious practices is a constitutional right. Don’t abuse the rights of religious freedom for American citizens.

This story was originally published May 10, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Coronavirus, Gov. Inslee, Tyson plant and more | May 10."