Leonard Witt: Governor should advise Trump to cancel event in Portsmouth

To The Daily Sun,

An open letter to Governor Sununu:

You have done an admirable job in helping keep the Covid-19 pandemic in check here in New Hampshire. Given your thoughtful approach, I am extremely disappointed that you have not publicly taken a stance and told President Trump not to have a mass gathering in Portsmouth on Saturday to advance his political agenda. This has the potential to be a super-spreading event. That means a potential death sentence for the 250,000 residents 65 and older.

I am sure Trump fans from every part of the state will be attending the rally and then returning to their hometowns afterwards.

Many of Trump’s true believers will not be wearing masks, no matter how often you request it, and the very nature of the event will mean there will be no social distancing.

There will be shouts of joy — and anger — and guffaws aplenty. All of which means tiny respiratory droplets will be launched into the air and dropping on everyone. The attends will be coming from all over the Northeast, many without masks. Just as Secret Service agents and Trump event advance people have come down with the virus from other events so we must assume folks will become infected here too. Just as in Tulsa, the Trump campaign is demanding attendees sign a waiver that they won’t sue if they get Covid-19.

The most vulnerable among us will have to worry that the attendees, as they return home, will be seeding pods of infection statewide. We know the virus often spreads exponentially. Hospital beds start to fill, death rates creep upwards and the economy again grinds to a halt. So your thoughtful approach will be vanquished, and we will be back to where we were in late March.

For what, to hear a speech that is just a composite of a thousand Tweets and YouTube videos. Why risk the wellbeing of the state for what is really a vanity event for the president?

Please governor, publicly denounce this potentially super-spreader event and do all in your power to stop it. It is the thoughtful and right thing to do.

Leonard Witt

Sandwich