Letters: Readers on delayed medical care, answering the call and business restrictions
Don’t delay care
According to a 2020 survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, around 40% of Americans are delaying needed medical care due to anxiety about COVID-19. Unfortunately, this trend continues to be seen in Wichita, despite ongoing efforts to create a safe environment at hospitals and emergency rooms and significant declines in infection rates and hospitalizations.
As a result, we have seen patients arriving sicker, staying longer and requiring higher levels of care. In fact, many patients are arriving well beyond the window during which we would ideally treat their condition. As a result, some victims of stroke and heart attack face long-term damage that is beyond our ability to repair, and the number of patients diagnosed with incurable, late-stage cancers continues to grow.
We urge everyone to think before delaying needed care. The consequences of doing so can be just as serious — and deadly — as COVID-19 itself.
Answering the call
Would I have answered when you called?
Palm Sunday we sang this hymn at my church and I was struck with the question. We can speculate which person we would be at the foot of the cross. The soldier? Following orders. Peter? Denying Jesus. Thomas? Fleeing from Jesus.
Instead of speculating where we would be on that day, where are we now?
Recently, a 65-year-old Asian American woman walking to church was assaulted by a stranger screaming “you don’t belong here.” Mohammad Anwar was murdered in a carjacking near Nationals Park and an Asian man was beaten on a Manhattan-bound subway.
In each, witnesses watched, turned their eyes or grabbed their phone to record; and in one, men closed the doors of the store, letting a women continue to be assaulted feet from them.
Evil is found in the shouts of “crucify” and is found in the assault and murder of our Asian brothers and sisters this past year. It is also found in those that look away from pain and suffering. As we remind ourselves of Jesus’s betrayal, death, and resurrection, ask ourselves the same question, “Would I have answered when you called?” Jesus is calling us.
Masks
Well, our Republican controlled Legislature has done it again. They passed Senate Bill 40 last week that strips the Sedgwick County Commission and the local health officer, Dr Garold Minns, from placing any restrictions on businesses for the remainder of the coronavirus pandemic, including mask mandates (County likely to end mask rule, say legislature forcing its hand. Tuesday March 23rd Wichita Eagle).
Masking does work, particularly for those who might be carrying the COVID-19 virus. It helps prevent the spread of the virus to others. The rates of influenza and colds, another coronavirus, were way down this winter because many people were wearing masks and social distancing. According to the CDC, COVID-19 is far more contagious for certain populations, which makes masks even more important.
Conscientious businesses will still require mask wearing in their establishments. Hopefully, the city of Wichita will override the Legislature through the home rule statute in the state Constitution. And, by the way, this pandemic is not over yet.