News Room

Thank you very much for the excellent article, “Get your flu shot!” Aug. 16, page A1, with the interview with Dr. Mark Kenton, who is urging that we get a flu shot this year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I agree that this is imperative not only for our community’s health but also to try to limit the demands for healthcare resources during what will certainly be very challenging fall and winter seasons with students returning to our towns and with still many unknowns about the coronavirus.

Governors, please take a step back. It is time for mayors and city officials in your largest cities to assume full authority for managing the COVID-19 response in their communities. The very public battle between the governor of Georgia and the mayor of Atlanta exemplifies how the COVID-19 response has become more about political partisanship than public wellbeing.

Chicago grabbed the headlines in April and May with its surge of Covid-19 cases and deaths. It is relinquishing that dubious distinction to small cities and rural areas. Based on Illinois Department of Public Health data, since August 1, 29% of new state-wide cases have been in small cities and rural areas (those outside of the Chicago metropolitan area and the two primary Illinois counties east of St. Louis). For deaths, this number jumps to over 38%.

COVID-19 is poised to overhaul the college sports playing field. With all the uncertainty surrounding fall sports, with the Big Ten and Pac-12 delaying all competition, the intercollegiate sports business model is ripe for structural changes. The #WeAreUnited movement is symptomatic of the discontent, frustration and concern among student athletes.

The Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences pulled the trigger to delay (the better word is cancel) college football until the spring. The Big 12, Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences all seem intent to follow through and play this fall. Any conference decision to delay football, or any college sport for that matter, ensures that the sport will not be played this academic year.