Letter to the editor: How will you behave in the next pandemic?

How will you behave during the next pandemic if the virus kills children, adults and seniors equally? Would President Trump behave differently if his family was at risk? Would he treat preventable deaths as just part of doing business?

Would you insist on opening everything and not wear a mask if the virus killed children, adults and seniors equally? If it meant protecting your loved ones, would you behave the same way? Would you insist your rights are being infringed on when asked to make similar sacrifices if it meant saving your family members?

Before choosing not to care about others now, you better understand viruses are unpredictable, and like this one, a new one will come again without treatments or a vaccine. It is only a matter of time before the next “emerging” virus or pathogen spreads around the world, and the next time its deadly target may be all age groups.

Read up on the 1918-19 pandemic where the virus killed hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the United States. Pennsylvania was one of the states with the most cases and most deaths, with businesses, churches, schools and large gatherings closed. I’m sure the majority back then agreed on these measures, as everyone in every family was at risk of dying. Remember, times were much harder back then, with World War I and its aftermath.

Be careful what you wish for: that next pandemic will probably be in your lifetime.

Robert Grottenthaler

Springdale