WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 22, 2020 13
Federal leadership no help during COVID-19 pandemic
BY MARK ANTHONY ESPINOZA
In our pandemic spring, public
schools closed for instruction, but
school buildings remained open to
serve hungry kids, fi rst responders and
essential workers who needed support
as they continued to go to work even as
much of the city shut down. So, my entire
community relied on my work as a school
cleaner to keep the building sanitized and
safe. Then the virus hit home.
I got sick, as did my wife. My dad got
sick too, and so did my grandmother, and
I lost both to the disease.
Since recovering from COVID-19,
I’ve shown up for work every day. The
schools cannot function without people
like me who meticulously clean and
sanitize every doorknob, desk, toilet
and all high-touch surfaces. I don’t think
it’s an exaggeration to say that my work
can make the diff erence between life and
death. By ensuring school buildings are
OP-ED
safe, I eliminate some suff ering.
But the commander-in-chief doesn’t
want to end the suff ering. I had hoped
Trump’s COVID diagnosis would help
him understand the uncertainty and fear
that millions of Americans face every
single day. One thing is for certain, and
it’s that we cannot have Trump serve
another term if we want to survive this
pandemic.
I’ve channeled my outrage into
campaigning for Joe Biden and Kamala
Harris, because I want leaders who care
about the lives of workers, who believe
in science and who will take action to
expand health coverage so people can
actually take care when they’re sick.
I personally cannot live with the
possibility of a second Trump administration.
My wife and I are expecting our
fi rst child at year’s end. And I lay awake
at night wondering what kind of world I
want to bring her into. I want it to be one
where Trump doesn’t determine so much
of our lives.
As a member of a union of essential
workers, I’ve experienced how the consequences
of decisions by federal leadership
trickle down to working people. Trump
was able to get top-notch care at no cost
to himself as soon as he was diagnosed,
unlike more than 215,000 Americans,
including 138 of my union sisters and
brothers who died from COVID-19.
My father and grandmother contracted
the virus at a time when masks, PPE
and hand sanitizer were scarce, a deadly
side eff ect of the utter incompetence from
the Trump administration. They died in
hospitals completely overwhelmed by
the pandemic made infi nitely worse by
the administration’s outright refusal to
provide any meaningful help.
Biden and Harris have a plan for a
comprehensive approach to controlling
the virus that focuses on testing, PPE and
nationwide standards to reopen safely
so kids can get back to school and the
economy can get back on track.
As the president uses his taxpayerfunded
government healthcare for
life-saving treatment, he and Republicans
actively work to throw millions of
Americans off their healthcare by destroying
the Aff ordable Care Act. There
is a tragic irony to the fact that the Rose
Garden super spreader event that led to
this wave of Republican infection was to
nominate a Supreme Court justice whose
fi rst order of business will be to take away
health care for millions.
Everyone should have access to quality
care, especially now. Biden gets it, and
he’ll work hard to stop the spread.
The coming birth of our little girl
Annalise is the one thing keeping me
motivated during these diffi cult times. I
want to welcome her to a country where
Biden and Harris are in place to not just
to clean up the mess that Trump created,
but to build a better future.
Mark Anthony Espinoza is a school
cleaner at a New York City public school
in Queens.
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