Have you heard? Beaufort County is exempt from the pandemic | Letters
It’s true! The residents of Beaufort County have nothing to fear. There is no coronavirus in this county!
Don’t believe me? Take a stroll through a couple of grocery stores in the Bluffton area. Not a single mask in one of the stores; and, very few in the second store. Check your pet into a vet clinic. Three employees and no face coverings. Drive down the main drag in Bluffton to see hordes of people sans mask. The one exception: a clearly delusional woman who missed the memo.
Let’s get real: The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 304 cases within this county with an estimated 1,806 possible cases (asymptomatic or untested). The trend is upward. We are not “special” after all! COVID-19 is here. And we’ve just begun our tourist season.
David Lauderdale’s column in the Thursday’s The Island Packet was spot on. We want our economy to re-open. We can accomplish this by behaving safely to protect ourselves, our neighbors, and our health systems. Why risk an escalation of COVID- 19? Even if many people are unconcerned about their own health and the health of their fellow residents, why risk an escalation of COVID-19?
As the column concluded, it’s up to the individual to make his or her choices. For me, that means wearing a mask when in enclosed public spaces and supporting only those businesses that follow the CDC guidelines.
Jennifer Sabin
Bluffton
Stop the tragedy of developing Bay Point Island
It sounds like a joke, but instead it is a very real nightmare: a company based in Thailand wants to build a resort on one of the last natural barrier islands remaining along the South Carolina coast, right here in Beaufort County! Right here where our fragile ecosystem struggles constantly against challenges from both nature and man.
On a gorgeous tiny island that is home to thousands of shorebirds and a stopover for thousands more migratory birds, as well as a pristine nesting site for endangered sea turtles — in a area where there is no sewer, no water, no electricity, no access except by boat, and where sea level rise and hurricanes will inevitably win out — this is not just a nightmare, it is a tragedy.
Please, please, Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals — do the right thing and reject this ill-conceived and outrageous proposal for development of Bay Point Island, for so many more reasons than the limited words of this letter can address.
Please put a stop to this nightmare now! Countless alarmed citizens will applaud you and breathe a huge collective sigh of relief.
Kay E. Merrill
Beaufort
Give us less from the NYT
My husband and I have subscribed to The Island Packet since we moved here in 2004. Reading the morning printed newspaper is a beloved ritual, and we really miss the Saturday printed delivery!
However, more and more we have come to the same thoughts as the writer of the recent letter, “Newspaper lets us down.” He expresses our thoughts exactly and we concur in every way, including that on President Donald Trump.
We only hope the editor and owners of the Packet will take heed and deliver us better content that is not so dependent on The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Lynda Rankin
Bluffton