To the Editor:

Thanks for reporting the latest local COVID numbers on your front page [Health Dept. Prepares for School Reopenings and Fall Flu Season, August 19]. In a town with a population of 28,000, we’ve had a total of 18 COVID-19-related deaths (which I assume is different from deaths strictly caused by COVID). This makes the per capita death rate 0.06%. You reported the average age of death at 84.6. This is in a state where the average lifespan is 80.

Can anyone explain how this creates the rationale for a multi-month crippling of the area’s local economy, undermining and in some cases destroying beloved local small businesses, and causing untold suffering for thousands of working people, especially low wage workers in the service economy?

Ken Mccarthy
Palmer Square West