Letters to the Editor: Closing pools this summer is going too far; UK study flawed

Ignoring the rules

I sit down to write this letter after finishing a nightly walk, typically between 9-11 p.m., that I have made for the last eight weeks. It has become a nightly ritual for me as I walk by the local shopping center and look through the windows to watch how people are following social distance rules at late hours. Back in early March, very few were obeying these rules and no one was wearing a face mask. What has really surprised me now is that I have seen very little change in behavior. Even now, very few are obeying the social distance rules or wearing face masks. This includes grocery store employees and restaurant employees working at a wide range of establishments from fast food to a high-end steak house. Now that the shelter-at-home rules are starting to be relaxed, I am very troubled. I am afraid of what the next few months will bring, since we have a sizable, active COVID-19 infected subpopulation across both the state and the nation. As a community and as a nation, we need to reach 80 percent-plus social distance compliance. I wonder what type of social distance education or enforcement will get us there.

Hunter Moseley, Lexington

Recourse on pools?

My daughter is a lifeguard with the Lexington-Fayette parks department. Mayor Linda Gorton has declared all pools closed for the entire summer of 2020.

Do people have any recourse to question when our executives go too far? It appears the governor and mayor can command any edict they wish as long as it involves COVID-19.

This is a dangerous precedent. Every year Kentuckians could experience this level of restriction, loss of livelihood, and liberty in the name of “keeping us safe.”

Studies have shown children are at low risk from COVID-19 and so far, by all indications, are weak vectors. However, school-age children have suffered terribly under this regime and there’s no end in sight.

I realize we are still in peak panic, but please let us all keep in mind our leaders are fallible politicians and we must always be prepared to question authority.

Carrie P. Cox, Lexington

Study flawed

The University of Kentucky’s “Healthy at home” study is a straw man argument. Politicians find a problem, throw money at it, make up rules, and claim they “saved us”.

We don’t know if lives were “saved” because Path B was not taken. We were told one to two million would die. We had to quarantine to “flatten the curve” so we would not overwhelm the healthcare system. Instead we have shut down hospitals and healthcare workers.

We now know the science of this issue, and those at risk. Old. Obese. Diabetic. Over 90 percent of deaths had underlying conditions. We know from studies that up to 10 times more people have had the virus than reported, over 40 percent without symptoms.

There is no proof that staying at home “saved lives”. One only has to look at Sweden. They have not totally closed their society. Their death rate per 100,000 is 22, lower than Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. New York City has a death rate of 120 per 100,000.

How can you say we “saved lives” when you don’t factor in other factors, including suicides, drug abuse, spousal abuse, and depression, and the unknown deaths forward for lack of diagnostic tests.

Dallen Wendt, Nicholasville

No infraction

Calen Studler’s recent opinion piece in the Herald-Leader makes a simple argument: State laws may not overrule the Constitution. He says that, because he’s an “originalist,” he thinks the First Amendment should be interpreted how the founders intended, not how we currently interpret it.

At least, it sounds simple. The problem is that, even if you use the original intent of those words, you have to take into account the current context and intent of how we exercise our “rights,” because that can easily change things.

If Studler wants a Supreme Court case to reference, just look at Virginia vs. Black, which argues that cross burning is not a peaceful assembly. The threat or risk of people’s health and lives is not “peaceably” assembling.

Mass gatherings risk lives. So no, Studler, Gov. Andy Beshear is not violating the Constitution.

Bronson O’Quinn, Lexington