Letters to the Editor: Would you rather breathe through a mask or a ventilator?

Los Angeles Times Opinion
·1 min read
NATIONAL CITY, CA - JULY 08: Coronavirus patient Pedro Luera, 68, breaths through a ventilator at Paradise Valley Hospital, National City. Pedro's wife Patricia is also a coronavirus patient is being treated in the same unit of the hospital. Both were transported from El Centro via Mercy Air ambulances to Paradise Valley Hospital. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
A 68-year-old coronavirus patient breathes through a ventilator at Paradise Valley Hospital in National City on July 8. (Los Angeles Times)

To the editor: Thank you for putting Steve Lopez's column, "Gasping, afraid, alone. What it's like to die a COVID-19 death," front and center.

Yes, we should make it clear to the deniers out there who do not believe in wearing a mask what it is like to suffer and die from this virus. We need more articles like this for the imbeciles who choose to ignore the seriousness of this issue and place the rest of us in danger.

Trace, test and treat — this is how the rest of the world has faced this pandemic, and the richest country in the world is still lagging behind.

Happy talk and magical thinking from our leaders will not help us. Each person must take responsibility and be firm with those who do not. We are in a crisis of epic proportions.

Varini deSilva, Huntington Beach

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To the editor: This country honors those who have fallen in defense of our freedom.

A face covering is not just a mask. It is, in a real sense, a "badge of honor" worn to honor and cherish all those who have died from COVID-19, whether family members or essential workers fallen in defense of our health and welfare.

As Americans, there is nothing more patriotic or honorable than putting on your badge of honor every time you venture out in public.

Rex Altman, Los Angeles