Letter to the editor: Urge leaders to work to prevent another pandemic

I can’t believe that a year ago this month my university sent me home because of the “new virus.” I remember thinking, “This won’t last long; in a couple weeks I’ll be back in school and everything will be back to normal.” Now here we are, a year later, with covid-19 still changing my plans and affecting my life.

I know the pandemic has brought some good things to us. It united us and made us more caring and compassionate to each other. But I know that I don’t want to go through this again. I want to be able to walk in the street without a mask, go to a party and dance like there’s no tomorrow, take a spontaneous trip with friends, have all the family gather together and talk about when we were kids. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like this.

If you are like me and don’t want this to happen again, urge your congressional leaders to support the Global Health Security Act. Let’s learn how to prevent another pandemic from happening.

Leticia Alcaraz

Pine