Dear Editor,
Having not driven through downtown Vancouver in over six months, I was shocked by what I saw on a recent trip to an appointment, and it has compelled me to find a way to congratulate the citizens of Richmond for doing what people in downtown Vancouver are so obviously not doing to keep COVID-19 infection rates at lower levels.
Along Davie and Denman streets, I saw sidewalks and street corners crowded, sometimes shoulder to shoulder, with people who were not wearing masks or worrying about distancing themselves from each other.
On every block, I saw people without masks going in and out of stores and restaurants and literally bumping into each other in busy crosswalks.
It was a tremendous relief to return to Richmond where, even while there are also those in our city who still refuse to wear masks, the ratio of mask wearers to non-wearers in our city is the opposite of what I saw in Downtown Vancouver, and it was clearly evident why Richmond’s infection rate per 100,000 people is so much lower than Vancouver’s.
Thank you, citizens of Richmond for making life for this vulnerable senior citizen much less problematic and stressful than it would be if I lived somewhere in Downtown Vancouver.
Ray Arnold
RICHMOND
