Many predicted from the start that the calamity and hardship caused by the coronavirus-related shutdown would do much greater harm than the virus itself. Here we are folks. It has happened before our eyes.
The death of George Floyd is a shame. It shouldn't have happened. Those responsible will be held accountable and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
His death was the spark that started a fire of unrest. Most of those that are protesting, looting and committing arson are young people. The same young people that were forced to leave school this spring. The same young people that would be employed in restaurants, theaters, gyms, etc., that were forced to close down. The same young people that don't know whether they will be back in school this fall and if or when their jobs will ever come back.
Gov. Walz has robbed these young people of hope for their future.
The statistics from the start have been crystal clear: 80.7% of the deaths from the virus have been people over the age of 65 (CDC website, June 10). Most had significant other health issues. In Minnesota, 80% of the deaths have been people in care facilities (MDH website, June 2).
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People have said "we are all in this together." I don't buy it.
Besides the small business owners that were forced to close, the people most harmed by the shutdown are children, young adults and their parents. Virtually none of them will die from the virus, yet we have drastically changed their world. Check the statistics folks. The odds of a school-aged person dying from the virus are literally one in a million.
Gov. Walz needs to change course and fully reopen the businesses that employ our young people now. He needs to promise them that schools will open full time and on time this fall. We need to get our children and young people back on the playing fields and to their jobs and schools immediately. The evidence is there … healthy kids don't spread the virus.
We are doing our best to protect those most vulnerable to the virus. To keep those minimally affected from doing things that they want, need and love to do is wrong, unfair and damaging to our society.
Please contact the school board, city council, county board, governor and representatives and encourage them to have some guts and demand change.
