According to the Aug. 5, 2021 issue of the I-R, commissioner Dennis Rolfs expressed the opinion that COVID-19 was no worse than the flu.

Three of my relatives in Ellsworth died of COVID-19. About a year ago in Oklahoma, a distant relative got COVID-19 at around age 35. He spent weeks in ICU, is still in rehab and recently had to have some toes amputated.

In this country, more than 600,000 people are dead of COVID-19 and millions more around the world.

So, Mr. Rolfs, COVID-19 is much more serious than the flu.

Harold Choitz

Rochester, Mich.