Many can’t pay rent, mortgages. Enact a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures.

Stabilize housing

Any progress made on housing in Durham is being threatened by the economic fallout of COVID-19. Many renters have lost their income, making it impossible to pay the rent or mortgage.

I’m grateful Congress passed emergency legislation to help people experiencing housing instability and homelessness. Even some local apartment complexes have demonstrated flexibility in accepting payment. However, Congress must pass a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures and provide substantial resources for emergency rental assistance.

We can also look ahead. Creating a refundable “renters’ tax credit” to help low-income renters cover rising housing costs will give people the financial security to know that when the next crisis comes, we will be ready.

I am urging Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, along with Rep. G.K. Butterfield, to quickly pass measures to help struggling workers and families secure stable housing to get them through this crisis and beyond.

Hiba Fatima, Durham

Saving moms, babies

Yes, N.C. legislators can save moms and babies. Earlier this month Dr. Adam Zolotor presented data to the Health and Human Services Joint Legislative Oversight Committee showing that Medicaid expansion has reduced maternal and infant mortality in other states.

Medicaid expansion would result in 47 fewer infant deaths and 10 fewer maternal deaths per year, greatly benefiting women and children of color. Zolotor noted that under the Children’s Health Initiative (CHIP) states can provide comprehensive prenatal care, labor, and delivery coverage to women without legal status, leading to 10 fewer infant deaths per year.

If North Carolina is serious about healthier moms and babies and serious about addressing health disparities, we will expand Medicaid and use CHIP to cover pregnant immigrant women without legal status.

Walidah Karim-Rhoades

LaToshia Rouse

Karim-Rhoades is a registered nurse. Rouse is a doula who assists women with childbirth.

Price gouging

There are consumers who feel they have no choice but to purchase products at inflated prices. For example, according to Policy Watch, shortly after Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, a Charlotte woman paid $42.90 for two bottles of isopropyl alcohol at a mom and pop pharmacy in an effort to protect her children. When in stock, a 32-ounce bottles of rubbing alcohol costs $2.39 at CVS.

Price gouging in times of crises is illegal in 36 states, for good reason. It penalizes the poor who can barely afford needed products in good times, forcing them to go without or do without other essential items.

According to ideologues on the right price gouging is evidence of the “genius of the market” at work and therefore, not only legitimate but good for the consumer. May we be protected from his logic as well as COVID-19.

Polk Culpepper, Washington

I’d like to know...

I’m interested to know the number of COVID-19 tests performed each day in N.C. coupled with the new number of cases confirmed, coupled with the new hospitalizations. That would be a more honest statistic and would give readers more relevant information. Knowing the number of hospital discharges each day and the length of stay for those who passed away would also be beneficial, as would knowing if those who succumb were treated with any new protocols and the nature of their underlying conditions.

Barbara Perkins, Raleigh

Lack of leadership

The coronavirus is the most significant occurrence in our lifetime. The leader of our country has delegated much of the duty to fight this killer disease to governors. So, it’s like 50 different countries fighting 50 battles.

I lived through World War II and experienced what this great country can do when united. We are not united. Our leader is not leading. There is no national responsibility. Rather, to our detriment, we are witnessing bickering between our president and some governors.

I am a senior; will I be collateral damage in the president’s campaign for re-election?

George Ingham, Pittsboro

Sense of belonging

Social isolation stresses us because it threatens our sense of belonging. Our network of family, friends, workmates, and familiar faces provides us with unspoken support. We feel vulnerable without it. This comfortable rug was pulled from under us without warning by COVID-19. If you are feeling low right now, it might be grief from a sense of loss. Uncertainties about this virus interfere with looking past the current state, but we must to fight through these negative feelings. You are a child of the universe; you have a right to be here. Take heart. This, too, shall pass. We will never be the same, but we will be all right.

Robert M. Edwards, Cary