Editor:

Are we really dealing with a pandemic?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a pandemic occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population. According to this definition, I feel we are not dealing with a pandemic.

If we were dealing with a pandemic, I would think we would be seeing every county in our state with hundreds, if not thousands, of cases of COVID-19.  I would think hundreds of thousands of people throughout New Mexico would be dealing with the disease.

As far as I can tell, this is not the case. Likewise, according to this definition, every state in the nation would be dealing with hundreds of thousands, in some states, millions, of cases of this virus. Millions and millions of Americans would be ill with the virus and this is not the case.

If we are dealing with a pandemic, I would think I would know of at least one person (friend, acquaintance, family member, etc., and I have friends and family from Virginia to California, from South Dakota to New Mexico) who is dealing with the disease, and I know of no one who is.  So… Are we really dealing with a pandemic?

Kenneth V. Moulton

Rio Rancho