To the editor,

I would like to respond to Adam Johnson's front-page editorial, claiming that the Covid-19 pandemic is overblown, and causing "a level of panic disproportionate to the threat the virus poses." It is so easy to sit in your comfy chair in a county that only has a couple of cases of the virus, and believe that everything is rosy. But Mr. Johnson is pushing dangerous attitudes and beliefs.

Covid 19 is not merely another strain of the flu, as some would like to believe. Covid 19 is 35 percent more deadly than the flu. It is also more than twice as contagious, which is why it is sweeping the world. It's especially insidious, because a person could have it for up to a week without symptoms, while unknowingly spreading the disease. It is overwhelming our health care system in this country, especially in hard hit areas like New York, Washington State and California. At first it was a threat mainly to elderly and those with pre-existing conditions, but now it is killing younger and healthier people.

I wonder if Mr. Johnson would like to tell the thousands of people in New York City who have died from Covid just how overblown the concern is, or the 3,687 who have died so far in the US. In New York City the morgues have run out of room, and they're using refrigerated trucks to stack the bodies. Even Donald Trump's medical expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has predicted at least 240,000 deaths from Covid 19. This is not being "exploited by politicians for political gain," it is a real public health crisis. If the safety measures and social distancing inconvenience some business leaders, or even damage our economy, it is not for political gain, it is to save lives.

I suggest before Mr. Johnson foists such dangerous and reckless attitudes in a front page editorial, he consider the lives of the thousands of people who read his paper, who may be influenced into irresponsible and  dangerous behavior. We must think about others in this critical time.

William Davis

Shelbyville