I worry Gov. Cooper’s coronavirus timetable is driven by politics, not data

Moving too fast

Gov. Roy Cooper’s decision to move to Phase 1 of reopening is concerning because the state has not met the guidelines which he and Dr. Mandy Cohen set forth two weeks ago.

Even more concerning is the governor’s timetable to move to Phase 2 by May 22. Given the time it takes for coronavirus infections to spread, for those infected to show symptoms, and for those showing symptoms to seek medical help/hospitalization, there is absolutely no data-driven way to determine if Phase 1 has harmed public health in N.C. prior to moving to Phase 2. There should be at least four weeks, ideally six, of Phase 1 before making such a move.

I worry the governor is shifting from making data- and science-driven decisions to making political decisions. If that’s the case, he should be held fully and solely accountable for the consequences of hasty reopening.

Forrest Johnson, Durham

Durham schools

Although initially saying e-learning would not be required, Durham Public Schools is now requiring families to prove they cannot access it in order to be eligible to receive academic resources. Should they qualify, families must then find a way to retrieve packets of work from school buildings, during specific hours. This assumes they have access to transportation, do not need to work during that time, and are able to risk their families’ health and safety by going to a public place.

Rather than providing legitimate learning opportunities for students, DPS seems to be working to put as many barriers as possible in place. In the absence of a truly equitable plan from the district, teachers and principals have borne the brunt of trying to provide creative ways to support their students academically.

As a DPS teacher, I deeply appreciate the efforts of my fellow teachers, principals, and school staff to support our students and educate them as best we can during this crisis. I just wish that DPS wasn’t making it so hard for us to do so.

Langley K. Ellmann, Durham

Wearing masks

I just lost a close friend of 45 years to COVID-19. To those of you who walk into a grocery, hardware, or other store without a mask covering, brazenly ignore physical distancing, or exercise your “right of free speech and assembly” despite jeopardizing my health and that of everyone around you, I say this:

My friend would be the first to honor your freedoms and then chastise you for not recognizing that with those freedoms come a responsibility to your fellow human beings. Having emigrated from Russia with his Jewish parents during the Russian pogroms, he knew this from personal experience. He survived all of that, but it was coronavirus that took his life.

COVID-19 is not a hoax. It is real. I sincerely hope you do not have to suffer the loss of a loved one, friend or family member, to realize this. Unfortunately, by then it will be too late.

Curt Torell, Carrboro

Voting by mail

As arguments about voting by mail are thrown back and forth, I’d like to address another aspect. I have been a poll worker for many years in every election. Volunteers are typically retirees. Unless the virus miraculously disappears by November, I do not intend to volunteer this time – and I wonder how many of my fellow poll workers feel the same. Public service should not include risking one’s health or worse.

I am asking myself whether there will be enough people to volunteer this November. Maybe those who are so adamantly opposed to voting by mail would fill the void.

Karin Singleton, Raleigh

Justice delayed

The delay in taking legal action in the Feb. 23 shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old black jogger in Brunswick, Ga., was unconscionable.

Arbery was gunned down by two white men who believed he fit the description of a neighborhood burglar. Though video showed the shooting, no arrests were made until two and half months later. This is reminiscent of how blacks were treated during segregation and Jim Crow laws, where lynch mobs terrified blacks at will and justice was on the side of the white perpetrators.

I am reminded of what the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail”: “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

Julius H. Cromwell, Raleigh

Women’s rights

While Congress goes about its business, our nurses go about theirs, easing pain and saving lives while caring for their own families. Roughly 90% of nurses in our country are women. On average, men who are nurses out-earn females by $6,000 a year.

If we had the Equal Rights Amendment, pay inequities like this would be illegal.

Right now Senate Joint Resolution 6 is gathering dust in D.C. Its sole purpose is to remove the deadline from the already ratified ERA. Congress put it there; Congress can remove it. The House already has. Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis should sign on to support this joint resolution and push to take it to the floor.

Judy Lotas, Duck

Co-president, Dare County League of Women Voters

This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 1:28 PM.