To the editor:
Considering that COVID-19 can lead to a lifetime of problems like Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own peripheral nervous system, I believe we should do everything we can to love and protect our children.
Long-term complications of COVID-19 are not yet completely known. This virus does not have a cheery outcome, no matter how it’s painted, even for those who come through without symptoms. The truth is we just don’t know what the long-term outcome will be.
Consider viruses like chickenpox, which hides in the spinal column only to return decades later as shingles. Until we know all of the outcomes of this virus, how can we treat it like a bad cold?
In some countries, it is normal and typical for adults and children to wear a mask if they are unwell. Children living in those countries have a longer life expectancy than children living in the U.S.
What exactly is a distorted immune system, anyway? I do not believe this is a medical term.
We are all weary of masks and social distancing. It’s stressful.
The alternative is even more stressful. There have been more than 225,000 deaths in the U.S. from this scourge (Iowa accounts for 1,658 of those deaths). I watched in horror as the number of deaths bypassed the entire population of Des Moines.
In other words, every man, woman and child in Des Moines: dead. Two hundred and twenty-five thousand dead is the same as 450 plane crashes of 500 souls. That’s almost 84 9/11s. We all must work together if we don’t want to see that number double or triple.
We can do this. Other countries have. It is just a matter of putting aside vanity and putting on a mask. Then maybe one day in 2021 there will be a vaccine, and we will really be able to say, “That’s it. That’s all.”
C. McNamara Romanowski
Perry
