If you’re gonna wear a mask, do it right
Please wear your mask correctly. I am a registered nurse with more than 40 years experience wearing masks in the operating room.
Pinch your mask at the bridge of your nose. Pull the mask firmly under your chin. If you are the rare person with a respiratory system so compromised you can’t breathe while wearing a mask, you should not be out in public with or without a mask.
Your mask should be on your face or off your person. A mask hanging around your neck is the equivalent of wearing a used tissue as a necklace.
It is not necessary to remove your mask to talk on your phone. Your voice carries just fine through a mask.
Don’t think you are clever if you remove your mask as soon as you pass the checkpoint at Costco. You aren’t clever. You are thoughtless, selfish and dangerous.
A mask if far more comfortable than an endotracheal tube connected to a respirator. We must do what we can to protect one another.
Ina Moreno
East side
Remembering Ol’ Blue Eyes
Entertainer Frank Sinatra left us 22 years ago today, on May 14, 1998. First and foremost, his legacy will be his music and singing style that reflected the music of America for decades. That’s more than enough for me!
Of course we can add acting, directing, dancing and philanthropic ventures both here and abroad to round out his extraordinary life! So here’s a big “thank you” to Frank Sinatra for the joy and happiness he continues to bring to us via CDs, LPs, films and documentaries as we remember the unforgettable Francis Albert Sinatra!
Herb Stark
Downtown
Confounded by the right
Surely I’m not the only one confused by the acrimony and outrage on the right with regards to the Democratic response to the ever-changing sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden. After all, wasn’t it the right who, during the Kavanaugh hearings, implemented a new rule whereby, in cases of unproven sexual assault allegations, the man is given a pass?
And now the right is shocked that the left is willing to play by the right’s new Kavanaugh rule? I’m confused. OK, confused and amused.
But then I have a conservative nephew who, when asked if this or that particular act is moral or immoral, demands to know if the act was committed by a conservative or a liberal before he’ll render a judgment. Morals, it seems, can be tricky.
Kit Egan
Midtown
No shoes, no shirt, no mask
Everyone has a constitutional right to not wear a mask. That right stops when it meets my constitutional right as a business owner to require anyone entering my establishment to wear a mask. This is simple — you keep your right, just don’t impinge on mine by trying to enter my business without a mask.
Sherry Steele
Foothills
Keep ’em coming
Re: the May 11 letter “Star’s letters to editor never fail to entertain.”
In this letter, the writer says that the people who submit letters to the editor are trying to change the world into their model of the way things should be. They are not at all; they are merely people who have the courage to express their opinions, conclusions and beliefs, to not only family and friends but to the public at large. I applaud them.
There are individuals and groups these days who think that everyone should believe only what they believe, á la George Orwell’s “1984.” To them, the only truth is their truth. This is dangerous, as proven by past despots of the world. Free expression of opinion by letters to the editor are one means of preventing this from happening.
So all of you do-gooders, nannies and know-it-alls, hit those keyboards! Keep those letters coming. I love ’em.
Tom Henderson
West side
Voting by mail works, shouldn’t be mandatory
The recent furor caused by the proposal of voting by mail is senseless. I have been voting by mail (absentee/early voting) for years. Anyone can do it. It is effective and easy.
Apply to the county, they will make sure your registration is valid and send you a ballot. Any argument to the contrary is phony. If you don’t want to stand in line and vote as America has for hundreds of years apply for your early ballot.
If you want to vote by mail, do it. Our elections are safe, secure and honest. A blanket vote by mail program is backed by those who want to cheat. Vote by mail is in place, workable and viable.
Mark Wurz
Northwest side
Senators, please extend school food programs
The coronavirus has caused both a catastrophic health crisis and an economic one, pushing thousands of families into poverty and hunger in Arizona.
Even in this crisis, Arizona has been able to feed kids. Nationwide child nutrition waivers issued by the USDA gave school districts and community groups the ability to reach kids by packaging meals for curbside pick-up and delivery.
Now these nationwide waivers are set to expire June 30, at the height of summer hunger. Without the flexibilities these waivers provide, schools and community organizations will not be able to reach kids with the food they need.
I hope Arizona’s representatives in Congress, Sens. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema, will help feed kids this summer by urging the USDA to extend all nationwide child nutrition waivers through Sept. 30. The road to economic recovery begins with families in Arizona having the food they need for kids to thrive.
Erica Olmstead
Downtown
We’re No. 1, we’re No. 1!
Congratulations to President Trump for carrying out his promise to Make America Great Again. As of May 13, we are now No. 1 in the world in coronavirus cases at just over 1.4 million, and No. 1 in the world in coronavirus deaths at over 80,000.
Who would have thought that Trump could have gotten us to No. 1 in any category? When he finally manages to eliminate science, truth and education, think of all the other categories in which we might climb to the top. I’m pretty sure his next executive order will be to eliminate all educational instruction above the 5th grade so that no one in the country will be able to achieve a higher level of education than he has.
Paul Joy
Sierra Vista
I’ll take the credit, not the criticism
America is No. 1 again in the world, with more virus infections and deaths than any other country!
Our current president stated “and one day, like a miracle, the coronavirus will disappear,” and so will Trump!
Like him, I take no responsibility for my statement but will take full credit when it happens.
Rudy Van Renterghem
Oro Valley
Thank you, Star, for covering the reopenings
Re: the May 12 article “Restaurants have a slow start as doors reopen to customers.”
A really big thank you to the Arizona Daily Star reporters for interviewing restaurant, bar and hair salon owners and workers about the difficulties of reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic. So many of us are clamoring to get back to normal, and we want our favorite hang-outs to open as soon as possible.
Your articles are sensitizing us to the challenges these business owners face. Reopening is not the magic bullet we fantasized about. Especially not for the business owners. I hope it will be better than being closed. Good luck to all!
Carol Evans
Midtown
The numbers don’t lie
Re: the May 12 article “ ‘Too Soon Arizona’ campaign calls reopenings premature.”
I am astonished by the relaxation of social distancing, stay-at-home orders and reopening of public places including restaurants, gyms and salons ordered by Gov. Doug Ducey. He clearly bowed to political pressure and ideology over scientific evidence and thereby is risking the health and welfare of our people.
Anyone with a basic understanding of math can see with their own eyes that the COVID-19 trajectory curve is going almost straight up as cases are increasing. Only 2% of Arizona’s population has been tested since the beginning of the outbreak, which is woefully inadequate based on the CDC guidelines of what we need to test, track and isolate safely in order to contain this virus.
Ducey is performing a profound disservice to Arizona residents by prematurely opening. Expect steep increase in infections and deaths from COVID-19 in Arizona.
Marilyn Orenstein,
retired physician
North side
14-day trend line would help in graphic
I appreciate the daily graphic on the Tucson and Region page, “COVID-19 in Arizona” that shows the number of cases by county each day and related data. However, understanding the evolution of the virus in our locality and making decisions for ourselves and our workplaces, requires a view of the daily and weekly trend.
Please print us a daily graphic showing statistics on COVID-19 cases and deaths over at least a 14-day period. And let’s remember that a steady decrease in these numbers over time is only one of the conditions that public health experts recommend must be met before it is safe to relax protective measures.
In fact, there are numerous new protocols and resources that must be in place before we even think about resuming social contact as we were previously accustomed, in order to protect ourselves and our community from the risk of further harm.
Monica Mueller
Midtown
Mayor, what about transportation workers?
Our newly elected mayor, Regina Romero, has disagreed with Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent COVID-19 regulations and wants to keep us at home rather than let us work as she ignores her public transportation workforce. My wife, who has created a team to provide free face masks, received a call last night from a bus driver who stated that they have received nothing from the state, their union nor the city.
The driver asked for at least 300 masks for drivers since no one has provided them with any. And not only for drivers, but mechanics and other staff as well. How is the city spending money during this pandemic? We should all demand a detailed report when this is all over. Will the city comply? I doubt it.
Mariano Rodriguez
Midtown
