We can’t allow differing political views to keep us from following guidelines for defeating coronavirus

We must do our part to protect ourselves.

SHARE We can’t allow differing political views to keep us from following guidelines for defeating coronavirus
CPSFOOD_032020_21.jpg

Edith Quinones, the lunchroom manager, applies hand sanitizer as she and other lunchroom workers hand out three days of free breakfast and lunch meals for students at William P. Nixon Elementary School, 2121 N. Keeler Ave., Thursday morning,

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

For all the fear and uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, it has given Americans pause to reflect on life, and how they plan to survive during this difficult and potentially life-threatening time.

The irony is that many of the social ills that separate us as individuals — and as communities — suddenly now confine us all as human beings, as more of us become infected. As social distancing becomes the new normal, it doesn’t matter how wealthy or famous you are.

We must do our part to protect ourselves. The risk of catching the virus could be three times higher than the flu. There is no amount of money anyone can throw at this global pandemic to stop it. We must do our part to protect ourselves and ensure that no one else dies or get sick.

SEND LETTERS TO: letters@suntimes.com. Please include your neighborhood or hometown and a phone number for verification purposes.

At a time of social distancing, it is vital that we find new and creative ways to focus our energy.

President Donald Trump has declared the outbreak a national emergency, but he has also made it clear that true leadership, in his eyes, means not taking responsibility for any decisions he may or may not make in the weeks ahead. In any event, we can’t allow our political views or differences to keep us from following the strict guidelines and instructions given to us by the Centers for Disease Control and state health departments.

William J. Booker, Near West Side

Where are the coronavirus tests?

In other countries with the coronavirus, the most success has come with mass testing and then quarantining those affected in their homes. Why are we not doing that here?

Why did President Trump refuse offers of test kits from China? If I have the virus and I’m not tested, my family will get it, too. How will the virus be dispersed if we don’t use a smart approach to destroying it? Please, let us never again have such an incompetent small/no government president.

D. Benjamin, Naperville

Save the bees

The threat of bee colony collapse deserves immediate attention from state policymakers. Bees are our most important pollinators — hundreds of thousands of plants depend on their pollination. Accordingly, large-scale bee deaths have dire consequences for our environment and global food supply.

Gabriel Corza, Morton Grove

Impostor president

This imposter president has proved again that he is not well-read. Nor does he remember history. He chose to ignore the sign that was on President Harry Truman’s desk: “The buck stops here.”

Anna Stork, Bridgeport

The Latest
The man was shot in the left eye area in the 5700 block of South Christiana Avenue on the city’s Southwest Side.
Most women who seek abortions are women of color, especially Black women. Restricting access to mifepristone, as a case now before the Supreme Court seeks to do, would worsen racial health disparities.
The Bears have spent months studying the draft. They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.
Woman is getting anxious about how often she has to host her husband’s hunting buddy and his wife, who don’t contribute at all to mealtimes.
He launched a campaign against a proposed neo-Nazis march at a time the suburb was home to many Holocaust survivors. His rabbi at Skokie Central Congregation urged Jews to ignore the Nazis. “I jumped up and said, ‘No, Rabbi. We will not stay home and close the windows.’ ”