On behalf of the families who are grieving from the loss of a child due to the coronavirus, I would like to personally respond to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent irresponsible comments.
At a meeting of state educators earlier this month, while discussing a possible timeline for reopening schools in Florida, the Governor said this: "This particular pandemic is one where, I don’t think nationwide there’s been a single fatality under 25. For whatever reason it just doesn’t seem to threaten, you know, kids.“
He was dead wrong.
According to a CDC National Center for Health Statistics report (“Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19),” data as of April 9, 2020, five young people under the age of 25 had so far died nationwide from the coronavirus. Most were between the ages of 15 and 24, but one was a child under 5 years old.
But deaths by coronavirus are more than statistics.
According to a letter from the president of Colorado Mesa University (CMU), Grand Junction, Colorado, college student Cody Lyster, 21, who died from coronavirus, was pursuing a career in criminal justice in the footsteps of his father. Cory had his whole life ahead of him; now Gov. DeSantis pretends like it never happened.
To assist the Lyster family with burial and other expenses, a GoFundMe page has been set up on behalf of Cory at https://www.gofundme.com/f/cody-lyster. In light of the governor’s recent cold-hearted comments, I urge Ron DeSantis to contribute. It’s the very least he can do.
Bill Streifer, Crestview
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Coronavirus deaths are more than statistics