In his letter, “Good practices, good information” (July 22), Stuart Thompson was cagey about his reason for writing. I’m not sure, but I think his main point is summed up in his closing line, “In my opinion, the biggest threat that COVID-19 poses is fear-driven conduct.”
But what fear-driven conduct is it that Mr. Thompson finds threatening? It isn’t social distancing, good hygiene or isolating contagious people, all of which he finds “worthwhile.” It isn’t wearing a mask if you have a pre-existing condition, in which case he calls masks “justified.” It could be what he calls “medical scaremongering,” although it is not clear what he means by that. So why did he write?
In the central paragraph of his letter, Mr. Thompson noted that people with pre-existing conditions are most vulnerable to dying from COVID-19. These conditions, he says, are “caused by such poor health choices as smoking, drinking and substance abuse,” or by “weak immune systems.”
I am an Alaskan who is highly vulnerable to COVID-19. I have Type I diabetes, a serious pre-existing condition. I did not make a “bad health choice” to get diabetes. It is simply a challenge that life dealt me 32 years ago, something I struggle with day by day, so far successfully, thanks to insulin, good health care and ever-improving medical technology. Many Alaskans contend with conditions immeasurably harder than mine. Many are children who made no “health choice” at all. I am lucky.
At age 68, my years are another source of COVID-19 vulnerability. Being 68 was not exactly a choice I made, either. If Mr. Thompson lives long enough, he too will be 68 one day, if he has not already achieved that milestone. Eventually, whether he chooses to or not, he will develop underlying conditions. Blaming victims of the novel coronavirus for their ill fortune betrays a sad want of empathy for our fellow human beings. I wonder if this conduct is fear-driven, too?
Richard Emanuel
Anchorage
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