Amid nursing home outbreaks, Cooper should not give in to pressure from ReOpenNC

Reopen NC? Not yet.

While I understand the frustration expressed by the group ReOpenNC, I respectfully disagree with their pressuring Gov. Roy Cooper into reopening the state’s “nonessential” businesses.

This has been a hardship for millions, and all of us are increasingly frustrated with not being able to live our lives as we had before. However, if it wasn’t for the governor’s order requiring people to stay at home as much as possible, we may not have seen the number of infections and deaths as low as they are now.

This is going to be an extreme exercise in patience, but it is worth saving lives and not overwhelming our health care system. What is currently happening within our nursing home facilities across the state should be a warning to all that this is not over. Now is not the time to relax preventive measures.

Jen Almond, Cary

Internet for students

As we’ve watched school districts across North Carolina and the nation struggle to provide virtual learning, one thing is crystal clear: We need free, high-speed internet for all students.

Too many students don’t have internet at home or any device other than cellphones. Even when school districts provide students with computers, the lack of reliable internet undermines the virtual learning opportunity.

The digital divide exists in low-and-medium income families. We need a permanent long-term solution to ensure educational equity, not just for virtual learning but to allow students access to homework help, research, and to help families stay in touch with schools.

Providing free internet at every opportunity in our public places, in low-income neighborhoods, and homes of all public school students will require partnerships between private companies and government at all levels.

Our students will need all the help they can get to catch up over the next year.

Yevonne Brannon

Public Schools First NC, chair

Cooper’s orders

I thank Gov. Roy Cooper for his efforts to keep North Carolinians healthy. His stay-at-home and social distancing orders are helping, but don’t go far enough.

We need to require that every person who enters a retail establishment wear a mask. It is simple to make a mask using nothing but a bandana-sized piece of cloth or an old T-shirt and pair of scissors. If we want to get serious about containing the spread of this novel coronavirus, everyone must wear a mask.

My mask protects you. Your mask protects me. We are all in this together. Mask up!

Lynn Andrews, Durham

Voting by mail

Given that the coronavirus pandemic may be with us for a while, or that we may have a resurgence in the fall, Congress must begin to develop a plan for national voting by mail for use this November.

We, as a democracy, cannot have voters afraid they will die if they choose to exercise their right to vote. These dangerous times require a new approach. Many states have already successfully implemented mail-in voting. Let’s get the machinery in place now, for November.

And, let’s make sure to save the US Postal Service. If we have money to rescue small businesses and others, we also need to keep this lifeline service operational, despite setbacks imposed by the coronavirus.

Lori Spangler, Raleigh

Support for WHO

President Trump doesn’t want the U.S. to support the World Health Organization? Wasn’t it Trump who called this pandemic “flu-like” and and didn’t act until late January?

Is this just another impulsive snit-fit because China donated medical supplies to countries in need and was repaid with gratitude? Is this because Trump has not been “appreciated” by his serfs (we, the American people), thus wounding his ego?

What a statesman!

Jane Fast, Durham

Group home workers

I’d like to bring to attention another group of unsung heroes in our communities: group home staff members.

I have an adult son who resides in a community-based residential home. Before COVID-19 restrictions, his weekly routine included attending a psycho-social rehabilitation program and basic skills class. He enjoyed periodic home visits and my husband took him out weekly for supper.

Virus-management orders came with consequences heavily felt by my son: no PSR, no school, no parental suppers or home visits.

He now focuses on when he will see family again, frequently asking me and staff for a definitive answer that is elusive, robbing him of certainty. But as restrictions have evolved, staff members have made adjustments, sometimes daily, to ensure my son’s care stays at the highest quality, all while creating new “in house” activities and routines and addressing his peace of mind.

Kudos to N.C. group home workers, with extra accolades to Etta’s Residential Services in Raleigh.

Yvonne Burdick, Sparta

This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 4:07 PM.