Editor: I read the Dec. 3 Chatham Voice and came across the article about the Freedom Rally thinking that it has something to do with Black Lives Matter after seeing that an organizer was charged.
Seeing what has been happening south of us in the U.S., I found that odd, but reading the article I discovered that it referred to a bunch of people who are endangering other people by not wearing a mask.
Have these people not seen what is going on with over 260,000 people dead in the U.S. and how low our numbers are here because the governments mandated wearing masks early enough along with social distancing, closing our borders and no large gatherings?
Thousands of cases a day in each of the states that had denied there was a problem. Well, guess they are looking pretty silly now with the hospitals down there at or past capacity in their ICUs and no vaccine available yet.
Yes, the right to protest is our democratic right, but not when it is a threat to the health and safety of other citizens, and especially when most of these protestors are from out of town.
Chatham-Kent has been very fortunate keeping our stores and restaurants open, unlike other counties who again are closing because of an increase of cases.
We have seatbelt laws, helmet laws, gun laws to protect our people and this virus is affecting the people most vulnerable right now – our elderly and people with low immune systems.
Easy solution here – don’t want to wear a mask, stay home. Let the rest of us who want to try and cope through a difficult time try to make the best of it until it is under control. This is not about you; this is about us.
Richard Oulds
Chatham
