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Letter: Utah leaders don’t care about COVID-19

(Spenser Heaps | Deseret News, pool) Gov. Gary Herbert speaks at a press conference at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 11, 2020.

(Spenser Heaps | Deseret News, pool) Gov. Gary Herbert speaks at a press conference at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, June 11, 2020.

It is hard to understand why Utah’s governor and Legislature bother maintaining any sort of pretense that they care about the effects of COVID-19 on the people of this state. The governor has reduced the status of the task force on COVID-19 to an as-needed basis, and apparently, we don’t need it. State epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn might as well talk to the proverbial wall. The average number of new cases per day is 400 or more, the hospitals are nearing capacity and our leaders are thinking about going to green.

Why not just abandon this non-functional color system and deal with the people of this state honestly when it concerns COVID-19. It looks to me like state priorities are very clear. Money is more important than lives. The state will do nothing to help businesses if they have to shut down. It is OK if old people die; they are generally a drain on state resources, anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to take out some of those immigrants and people of color, either; they tend to vote Democratic. And if a few doctors and nurses die along the way, well, everyone has to die sometime.

Meanwhile, the government of Utah wishes you all good luck.

Kendra Houser, Millcreek

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