Editor,
My wife had COVID-like symptoms of increasing shortness of breath and disabling fatigue for more than a week. We started to get concerned and switched from observation to taking action in the hopes of getting a COVID test.
After a weekend of frustration and not getting a response, I called Janet St. Clair, Island County commissioner for District 3, and asked her advice about what to do. She gave me a clear plan of action, which helped to lessen our fear and anxiety.
She advised us to go to Island Hospital in Anacortes and go to the Respiratory Clinic. When we arrived, they told us that they were booked for two days and would not be able to schedule.
When I described my wife’s symptoms, they said to go to the emergency room and ask to be admitted. We followed those instructions, and amazingly she was admitted within a half hour.
The emergency team administered five highly effective screening tests. They all came back negative. The decision was made to give her a rapid COVID test.
The results came back in 15 minutes and were negative. What a relief.
All of this happened because science matters.
Many Americans are confused because they’re getting one politically motivated message that either the virus is a hoax or that it will go away or that it is questionable whether to trust the science and scientists. This has resulted in a very dangerous outcome because many Americans do not know who to believe.
When Jonas Salk and other scientists developed a vaccine to eliminate polio, so many lives were saved.
When a vaccine to protect against malaria was invented, a deadly disease was mostly eliminated.
Our lives have been forever transformed by the advances of cyber technology.
We are in election cycle which is perhaps the most important in our democracy’s history.
Some candidates support the politically motivated rhetoric that the COVID-19 virus is either a hoax, that it will disappear, or other statements that deny or dismiss the devastating effects of the virus.
I urge you to thoroughly read what the candidates say about their position about the relevance of scientific knowledge. Then vote and be an informed voter.
Jerome Rosen
Coupeville
