Letters to the Editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Another view on virus, and effusive thanks to health care workers

Your “Voices” page on April 3 was fascinating, particularly about the coronavirus and opinions expressed. If I may comment on a few.

Mr. Schinhofen made some good points. He rightly says our deaths and hardships in World War II were worse that what we have suffered so far from the COVID-19 virus. We lost over 400,000 Americans. There were shortages and rationing. And he asks whether we would be so compliant in following directions in any future epidemic if we had seen unnecessary actions taken now for what could turn out to be no more than a seasonal flu (the Aesop wolf tale?)

However, let’s look at the data about this epidemic. As I write this letter, CNN is displaying that there have been 9,180 deaths from 321,762 cases in the U.S. That is 2.9%, a lot more than 1.3%. Worldometer (worldometer.info/coronavirus) data shows 2.8% for the U.S. and 5.4 worldwide.

If you look at the data for Italy, Spain, and now the UK, you will see death rates at over 10%. Yes, one in 10 have died, and it’s getting worse.

I’m sure some commentators have said that not all cases are being recorded. Many have a mild attack and recover without medical intervention. Maybe so, but even if that speculation is true to the extent that there are twice as many cases as currently recorded you would have a 1.4% and 5% in the U.S. and European countries mentioned, still more than 1.3%.

I suppose the major issue is whether we can control and limit transmission of the virus with the restrictions we have in place. I think we will know by the end of April if the U.S. and European efforts have been effective. In the meantime, it would be extreme lunacy to relax the current restrictions. We should decide on the facts we have at the end of April as to what our future actions will be.

China has conquered the virus. However, South Korea’s distribution of cases was normal (bell curve) but has maintained a “tail” of cases and deaths, suggesting the virus has not been eliminated. Italy’s data also is suggesting a “tail” of cases and deaths. We’ll know by the end of April.

As I think about this epidemic, I want to add my views about our front-line troops, the health-care workers. We MUST generously compensate them for working to treat to save us and risking their lives in the process. Equally essential to our long-term survival is our food distribution and eventual production at the farm. As Mr. Knapp says, crops have to be harvested when they are ready. I can do without melons for a year, and, with the high degree of mechanization for grain and other essential foods, I think there should not be a shortage of labor (there will be more unemployed). However, I hope our government will have a plan for harvesting our food if migrant labor is unavailable.

George Tucker

Reader shares what his candidate would do for us

Ken Neitz is a veteran who deserves our respect and gratitude, but he is dead wrong when he claims our commissioners should be endorsing political candidates as part of the agenda at a public meeting. Mr. Blundo, Mr. Koenig and Ms. Strickland certainly have the right to support any candidate as private citizens, but that is not part of the job description for a county commissioner.

As for Mr. Trump, he has expressed several times that he has never asked God for forgiveness..Trump never apologizes for anything and that is his right..However, I believe many people of faith have a problem with this behavior.

Mr. Trump has proudly stated several times that he has never read a book in his life. I believe him. As a licensed K-12 reading specialist I have tested hundreds of students to assess their reading level. Donald Trump exhibits all the characteristics of an extremely poor reader. I could bore you with the diagnostic details, but watch him try to read a prepared text. It is sad for the leader of the free world to not have mastered this skill.

Ken Neitz wanted to know what “my” candidate would do to make our country better. Improve Obamacare, eliminate tax cuts for billionaires, use 21st century technology to secure our borders, spend money on our infrastructure, raise the minimum wage, provide a monetary bailout to families instead of corporations and create a national strategy for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic are some of the things my candidate would do.

Finally, my candidate would do all of these things while treating people with respect and not calling adults childish and insulting names.

He would display genuine empathy toward all those who are suffering from physical and/or financial hardship instead of bragging about his job approval numbers or television ratings.

Dennis Crooks