Manatee commissioners put us in more danger by reopening boat ramps | Letter to the editor
County commissioners Vanessa Baugh, Misty Servia, Priscilla Trace and Reggie Bellamy are not doing their part to flatten the coronavirus curve.
The same day reports show a rise in Manatee County coronavirus cases and deaths, four county commissioners overruled the public safety chief’s recommendation and voted to reopen boat ramps. Nothing should be reopening when stats are increasing.
The closure originally occurred as the result of social gatherings near Beer Can Island. Allowing these gatherings to reoccur by allowing access to boat ramps is going against the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the CDC guidelines that are in place for a reason.
If the interest to reopen boat ramps is about families having access to food, then address that matter differently, but your vote poses more harm than good. The same people you are trying to “help” will now unnecessarily be exposed to the virus when they return to land.
An article was recently published in the Wall Street Journal about farmers throwing away food because of limited demand from restaurants. Is it possible to ask farmers if this is the case in our community? This public safety decision has a domino effect and impacts concerns beyond boat ramps. You’re prolonging the peak in our county, which prolongs the amount of time people remain unemployed. This has an even greater, negative impact on residents having limited resources for food. The vote shifts the perception of seriousness, which will influence citizens’ precautionary behaviors, thus increasing cases and deaths, and furthering the burden on our healthcare staff already struggling with limited supplies and reusing personal protective equipment while caring for patients.
The sooner you follow and maintain public health recommendations for the duration needed, the sooner you can make decisions for normalcy without increasing unnecessary health risks to our community and those most vulnerable.
Stephanie Roth
Bradenton