Letters to the editor for Aug. 21
A call for centrally coordinated PPE
The growing number of COVID-19 cases in Thurston County highlights the severe exigency for a central, transparent system for getting Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to health workers, coordinated by the federal government.
As states re-open, we are seeing a surge in new cases, which have been followed by new outcries for medical protective gear. With no transparency regarding the medical supply chain, states and hospitals are working to outbid each other for PPE while simultaneously trying to do their jobs as safely as possible.
USPIRG (a federation of independent, state-based, citizen-funded Public Interest Research Groups) has been building coalitions among healthcare groups in different states to urge U.S. Senators to add the Medical Supply, Transparency and Delivery Act into the next Senate coronavirus package.
With so much at stake, we must ensure that we protect our healthcare workers so that they can protect us.
I want to thank Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for already supporting the bill. Now I am urging them to push Senate leadership to adopt it into the next coronavirus package.
Sophie Kelly, WASHPIRG, Public Health Team, Field Outreach Director
Doglio is best choice for the environment
Voters in the 10th Congressional District who care about protecting the environment have a great choice this year: Beth Doglio.
I got to know Beth soon after I moved to Olympia in 1991. She has been a consistent and tireless advocate and activist; over the years, I have worked with her on innumerable phone banks, rallies, door-to-door information-sharing projects, and much more. She has always inspired me with her passionate commitment to environmental and social justice, her determination to get things done, and her willingness to stand up for what she sees as the right course.
Balancing urgent human needs and long-term considerations has never been easy, and choices become harder and more complex with each passing year. Beth is a person of great compassion. Her concern for a livable future for humanity is a given; it’s part of her DNA.
Beth has done an exemplary job as our state representative, and will do so as a member of Congress. She has lived in-district for many, many years and understands its concerns and its uniqueness.
There is no one I would trust more to represent us in the U.S. Congress. Please join me in voting for Beth Doglio.
Peggy Bruton, Olympia
Beware face masks with exhaust valves
Beware of face masks with exhaust valves. They allow unfiltered air that may contain coronavirus to escape from the exhaled breath of the mask wearer. They protect the mask wearer but not others.
If you can’t wear a mask yourself, such as when eating or getting dental work, then you are not protected from a mask wearer with one of these valves.
These masks can be identified by the circular- or square-shaped plastic on the outside of the mask. They are quite common and allow the spread of the virus. The mask manufacturers, infectious disease experts, and the CDC all warn of this hazard.
Roger Carnes, Olympia
Thank you, Charles Shelan
Wow! Thank you, Charles Shelan! Your July 26 op-ed in The Olympian is spot-on. There have been decades of committees, studies, surveys, public forums, and work groups that have done little to truly address a temporary “home” for the homeless in our communities. Your proposal to utilize the Thurston County Fairground as that temporary home for up to several hundred people should be given serious consideration.
Your outline to make this successful — a governance structure, combined with evidence-tested agencies, a core service philosophy and intensive case management services — would be implemented. The goal to move people out within six months as new people enter the program is well thought out. The question is “Why not?”
Is it possible to formally present this to the Lacey-Olympia-Thurston County coalition? What say you, community leaders?
Rich Bakala, Olympia