SC Gov. Henry McMaster pandemic approach is right; time to plan reopening | Letters

It’s funny the way that the Hilton Head Island mayor and Town Council have hysterically tried to close down this island for weeks then and try to blame Gov. Henry McMaster because they cannot.

Closing down the island because of the media hysteria, true or not, from their former hometowns is not a reason to destroy the economy here and put many of our citizens out of work.

I commend McMaster for resisting the national hysteria and for displaying the qualities of a real leader.

He has made all of his decisions based solely upon the science and the the verifiable data that he has been provided. The Bill Gates-funded models and projections that are being used by most other states (including New York) have been proven to be both unreliable and far overstated.

As President Donald Trump has stated many times before, the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. I agree.

Hopefully, the mayor and Town Council here will recognize this and stop being followers and actually be leaders.

South Carolina is on the downside of the curve and we need to start thinking about the plan to reopen our beautiful island.

Otherwise, the damage done to the local economy and our small businesses may never be undone.

Jerry Gearding

Hilton Head Island

Quit turning rubber gloves into highway litter

Many readers may be unaware that various community organizations volunteer to walk along portions of the roadways in Bluffton and pick up garbage that has been haphazardly thrown from vehicles.

In an effort to keep areas litter free, these volunteers gather monthly to collect garbage that has accumulated.

Kudos to all those who are acting responsibly by wearing rubber gloves during this pandemic. However, it is grossly irresponsible that many seem to be discarding used gloves and throwing them out their car windows for others to pick up.

Really, folks! Show some common sense and toss them in your own garbage when you get home!

Betsy Werner

Bluffton

Rental company good to client

After reading the plight of many other visitors to your beautiful Hilton Head Island (which we have been visiting for 40-plus years) who could not receive refunds or return of deposits from their renters, my recent experience was different.

Beverly Serral at Bestnest Rentals was just the opposite. When decided to cut our vacation short due to the COVID-19 virus, they were sympathetic, accommodating and issued a credit without hesitation. Kudos and thumbs up to this rental company.

Richard Smith

Ottawa, Canada

Seize this rare moment for a Sunday drive

I always think of our tourists when I get my real estate tax bill, travel less than 10 minutes to one of our great restaurants, or get cut off by one turning left from the far-right lane. Yes, memories!

If this coronavirus situation had occurred in January, would we have noticed? But this spring, I wonder how many of us have experienced this blessed Hilton Head Island sans tourists. It might be something to witness.

This week, I loaded the car with wife and dog, and we did some Sunday driving. Do y’all remember the days of “Sunday drivers”?

Now I know why the parents loaded us up into the convertible (if we had one) and took off just driving around and looking at stuff. Remember? “If you kids calm down, there is a DQ we might stop at, or one of them newfangled McDonald’s.”

We calmed down and pretended to enjoy the sights of other people’s homes, parks and trees. Why were people always beeping at us?

Before I get turned in to the “isolate-in-place police,” we never left our car and kept the windows closed. As for us, we are committed to being team players. I am sure most of us agree we don’t want to be the cause of harm to our octogenarians.

But with this in mind, why not take in springtime Hilton Head in these conditions? We probably will never get this opportunity again. Oh yeah, every day is Sunday!

Chandler Russell

Hilton Head Island

Visitors have obligation stay back home

I am responding to sad comments in a recent letter, “Blame yourself, not the tourists.”

Two wrongs do not make a right.

If an unscrupulous rental agent won’t return a tourist’s money for a weekly rental, it is up to the renter to do the right thing and still not come to this small island with a very small hospital and expose this elderly population to a potentially lethal virus.

Greed and selfishness from those who won’t give up a vacation are just as bad as that of the rental agents. We simply do not have the resources to take care of this influx of folks from densely-populated cities

Dr. Susan Dinges

Hilton Head Island

Let’s ring all our church bells at noon every day

For the duration of this pandemic, I would like to make a plea for every church on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton and Beaufort that have chimes or bells to ring them every day at noon to remind us that we are all in this together.

We need to take a moment to be grateful for all those who are putting their lives on the line for us. We need to uplift all those who are sick and their families. We have very little control of much in our individual lives right now, but we can send thoughts and prayers to our brothers and sisters.

Right now, there are no countries, no borders nor divisions – there is only unity and caring for one another on a grand scale. Perhaps, we can come together as we are “Making a Joyful Noise” in our time of crisis. All we have is each other.

All of us are growing more depressed and stressed as we hear the daily accounts of this coronavirus. Last Friday, as I walked four miles in an empty church parking lot, I came up with this idea. Bells and chimes are inspirational. We need a lot of that right now.

I hope we can spread the word and hear the beautiful sounds of bells ringing as a tiny bit of hope in these times.

Lydia Chojnacki

Hilton Head Island

Fastest way to normalcy: Hydroxychloroquine

The fastest way to normalcy for our country is to neutralize the people who are sick pronto. We have that solution waiting and ready to go.

If everyone who is considered mild is sent home armed with a hydroxychloroquine prescription (not cold medications), and everyone in their household is also prescribed hydroxychloroquine (health permitting), then this virus can be snuffed out at a faster rate. The average recovery time is six days with this drug.

To allow a person to go home and ride it out with a potential for it to become severe or drag on for weeks is ridiculous and harmful on many levels to them and our nation. This drug has already been shown in other countries (and in cases in our own) that it is much more effective when taken early on.

Hydroxychloroquine has become the No. 1 first line of defense for physicians worldwide and we need to get it out into our homes right away. It will be the fastest way to turn this pandemic around and get this country rolling again.

I heard a front line New York physician on television the other day say he takes it as a preventative. Well, maybe we all should. It’s cheap, easy to make, and has low side effects.

Hopefully the mass prescription of hydroxychloroquine will start today or tomorrow. Our nation is desperate.

God bless.

Allison Williams

Hilton Head Island

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