People, not statistics

Tue., Nov. 23, 2021

Much appreciated Shawn Vestal’s story Sunday, recognizing a few of our area’s COVID-19 victims as people, not just numbers. One had wanted not to be just another statistic. Will putting faces on our lost friends and neighbors wake up our COVID deniers? Maybe a few.

Statistics about COVID, which The Spokesman-Review prints almost every day, don’t seems to get much attention from the unvaccinated, yet the numbers in the Idaho Panhandle are shocking. During October, COVID-19 killed 137 of our friends and neighbors. Nov. 1-15 the toll was 43. This brought the Panhandle’s total COVID deaths to 660.

On Nov. 15, the panhandle reported 203 new cases. This would be a 3 day figure to include the weekend. China — with a substantially larger population than North Idaho — averages 64 new cases a day. Go figure.

Carol Stacey

Coeur d’Alene

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