Isolated by COVID
It is up to us to limit the resurgence of COVID | Editorial, May 25
I am writing to you from Frankfurt, Germany where I am spending unexpected time in isolation due to a positive COVID test before returning to my home in St Petersburg. Fully vaccinated and double boosted, I nevertheless contracted asymptomatic COVID somewhere on our otherwise fabulous trips to Norway and Germany. Masks and social distancing have also fallen by the wayside here.
I now know that our current social behavior is not about if, but when you will experience COVID. So be prepared. I am convinced that my vaccination status offers protection against more serious diseases. This could have been far worse.
Consider what other precautions you will take, and what will you do if COVID comes to visit due to our collective complacency? For me, the airlines suddenly treated me like I had leprosy. Thank God for the immediate help and support from my German friends. By the way, I have just been tested negative in a home test and hope to get an official negative test soon so that I can return to St. Petersburg.
Stephen Rich, St. Petersburg
Assault rifles are not hostile to life
they were children Let’s not forget. | Editorial, May 26
If these pro-life governors signing laws banning abortion were truly “pro-life,” they would be signing legislation banning assault weapons instead.
Marilyn Myers, St. Petersburg
Open stretcher next to the school
A Killer’s Warnings | May 26
let me understand In Texas, anyone can carry a firearm without a license as long as they are not at school (or some other location). So if that’s true, then anyone can just carry a gun Outside school campus? Does anyone not see the problem with this scenario? Shouldn’t we do something until there’s actually an armed person inside? It’s not rocket science, folks. Apparently, the only people who can be helped by mental health treatments are members of the Texas government.
Gary Washer, Tarpon Springs
Tough for condo owners
DeSantis signs property insurance, condo reform bills | May 27th
I am the owner of a condominium in St. Petersburg. The bill treats homeowners and their elected associations as stepchildren because we cannot enter the mortgage market to get credit for major repairs like individual homeowners can. Many or most condo owners will not be able to afford the huge appraisals this bill mandates, meaning they would have to sell their condos assuming someone would buy them with prohibitive appraisals. I think by passing this flawed law, Tallahassee politicians will become the enemy of two million homeowners.
frank lupo, St. Petersburg
Keep them away
they were children Let’s not forget. | Editorial, May 26
Mourning is not enough, offering thoughts and prayers is not enough, and crying is not enough. I believe that every mother should refuse to send their children to school until Congress enacts strict gun restrictions signed by the President. That would work. Mental health resources would be phase two.
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marc yacht, hudson
A mental health issue
At the end of a school year, America goes deaf | Column, May 26
Here’s one for our new public school math textbooks: If there were 100 cars in Pinellas County, how many deaths from car accidents would there be? If there were 1,000,000 cars in Pinellas County, how many people would die in car accidents? Perhaps the solution to road deaths is better access to psychological counseling? Or maybe the solution lies in taking more cars off the road.
maggie talbot, Clear water
