Letter to the Editor, May 16, 2021: CDC facts negate group’s false claims | Letters
CDC facts negate
group’s false claims
Apparently, Jessica McLane and the Hanover Patriots believe that simply saying something makes it so. However, the falsehoods they attempted to spread in a demonstration before a recent Hanover County School Board meeting about equity in education should not go unchallenged.
McLane falsely states that COVID-19 poses “absolutely no risk” to children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of May 11, there have been nearly 540,000 cases among children up to age 4, including 139 deaths. For ages 5-17, there have been more than 2.6 million cases, including 351 deaths. Try telling the parents of those 490 deceased children that COVID-19 poses no risk to their children.
If you visit the CDC website, you also will see that the number of cases among Hispanics is disproportionate to their percentage of the U.S. population. Among Blacks and Hispanics, there is a disproportionate number of deaths caused by COVID-19.
I wonder why that is? Could it be the lack of equitable access to medical care among these groups? Lack of transportation? Lack of access to quality food that helps ensure healthy outcomes? These problems are systemic racism in action — which brings me to another lie the Hanover Patriots would have us believe.
