To The Editor:
This is in response to a letter published in the May 14 Valley Reporter saying that mask rules should not be enforced. Please, to those who believe this is a hoax or something inspired by others to make money or control them, remember the deaths and suffering among people who are most vulnerable because of their age or bad health. Some people with health issues were born with them. Whatever theories you believe about how this pandemic started, people are dying in the tens of thousands in the USA. Compassion alone compels you to wear a mask under certain conditions and observe social distancing. You might have the virus and not know because you don't have symptoms. Is it fair to spread the virus to fellow humans, potentially lethally, because you consider wearing a mask an infringement of your rights?
Ned Farquhar
Waitsfield, Vermont
