To the Editor:

After reading Rodney Freeman’s Letter to the Editor, where he states that people should be able to not follow the COVID-19 task force’s recommendations for reducing hospitalizations and deaths, I felt the need to respond.

Maybe, if we all followed the CDC guidelines, we would have a lot less of the hospitalizations and deaths. Mr. Freeman seems to take the same position as President Trump, who thinks the virus is a hoax and will go away if we do nothing.

The United States has 4% of the world’s population, yet one-fourth, or 25%, of the total COVID-19 cases are in the United States. There were nearly 5 million cases and 160,000-plus deaths reported in the United States as of Aug. 9.

Italy recorded only seven deaths on Aug. 9; Spain also recorded only seven deaths on Aug. 9, while the United States recorded 1,143 deaths on Aug. 9, and has been increasing more than 1,000 per day since.

This would indicate that we are not addressing the virus as we should.

Face masks and distancing have proven to help save lives, but apparently Mr. Freeman thinks this is infringing on people’s rights.

It also seems hypocritical for Mr. Freeman to chastise the Mayor, the  City Commission and the County Commission for taking action to protect its citizens, when the President and Governor Noem have not taken the necessary steps to protect us.

Charles Flowers
Iroquois