Your Wednesday editorial (“If bird flu lands here, will you be prepared?”) bought into the hype and fear of an epidemic, but gave us little information to practically protect ourselves against contamination and disease. You’d serve the community’s interests much better by reminding us of the most basic aspects of health and hygiene than by alarming readers with if/when ” … an outbreak does occur, panic will accompany it.”
In 18 years helping to protect Everett’s public and environmental health in general, and particularly this week after the pleasure of “surveying” the two-year accumulation of 100,000 plus residents in the ponds east of Riverside, I’m compelled to share some much less sensational but far more useful information.
Instead of fomenting fear of how an outbreak “could mutate into a human disaster,” try telling parents to remind their kids (or themselves) of how important it is to wash your hands when you use the bathroom, phones, playground equipment, public doors, railings, coins, etc. Or about keeping your hands out of your mouth, eyes and nose as you interact with hundreds or thousands of other people? How about reminding people not to leave eggs or chicken out to get warm, or carve the raw fowl on foul cutting boards? How about sharing links to the CDC, city utilities, Snohomish Health District, or other resources so citizens can be educated, aware and “better prepare … “?
It goes without saying that “in earthquake country” we should have “plenty of essentials on hand in case they can’t get help for a week or more – water, food, medicines, etc.” Sadly, in helping to breed flu fear (God forbid we cannot “produce and deliver goods and services if worst fears come true”), you gave us few real tools to protect our families’ health.
I know The Herald can do better.
Charles LR Johnstone
Everett
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