Letter to the Editor - Stick to the facts while dealing with COVID-19

I am appalled the Havre Daily News chose to run Ann Coulter’s xenophobic, racist rant. This rhetoric is not harmless. It incites fear and hate and is the last thing we need when facing a crisis. Unfortunately, anti-Asian sentiment is already on the rise, and you made a choice to allow someone to fan the flames of ignorance and bigotry.

We live in a global economy. People and cargo travel around the world constantly. COVID-19 is a virus affecting all of us who share this one planet. Scientists have been predicting a pandemic of this sort for decades. We were willfully blind to their warnings. And we will now have to deal with the outcome. Blaming someone else is a response we can do without. It serves no purpose and offers no solutions. It is merely an attempt to deflect attention away from how we respond to this crisis.

This is not the flu. It is more contagious and more deadly than the flu, and we are in serious danger of overwhelming our health care systems. Fortunately the majority of people will suffer only mild symptoms. COVID-19 does not just affect older people. At least 40 replace of hospitalized cases in the U.S. are age 20 to 54.

Let’s stick to the facts and move forward, united as one people, one world. We can make a difference.

Carolyn Anderson

Havre