A blot on America
George Floyd’s death is a dastardly and brutal act (‘World’ page, “George Floyd protests flare in U.S. cities”, May 31). The image of him begging for air to breathe is tragic. The circumstances around his passing are a shame not only for the United States, which still follows racism in this computer age, but also for the rest of humanity. It is nothing but a vulgar display of authority and arrogance by the police and is a case that must be condemned in harsh terms. It is a sheer violation of human rights. There is the law and the judiciary available to declare a man guilty or not.
N.R. Ramachandran,
Chennai
The death of George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is most shocking and ghastly. The graphic footage where the man pleads with police officers saying that he couldn’t breathe is very disturbing . As a global citizen, I wish that justice is dispensed to his family as the incident is clearly race related. Gone are the days of slavery and white supremacy.
What is interesting is that even Whites have registered their protest along with other communities across America in the demand for justice.
Nasir Soomro
Karachi, Pakistan
Virus transmission
The article, “Can coronavirus spread through airborne transmission of aerosols” (Science & Technology” page, May 31), is certainly a strong topic of debate among medical professionals, especially dental surgeons. We are in direct contact with saliva and blood as the oral cavity cannot be devoid of these body fluids; they are direct carriers of the virus too. Most of the dental procedures generate aerosols, especially hand pieces and scalers that are operated with a water spray attached to them in order to reduce the heat generated and to prevent injuries to biological tissues.
As a precautionary measure, all treatments which generate aerosols are stopped now to curtail virus transmission.
The lack of professional studies in the transmission rate of aerosols reveals the ground level reality of research analysis in India. Let us hope that this episode of the novel coronavirus pandemic turns our collective conscience as a mature society toward more scientific data accumulation and research methodologies, with enough monetary grants and infrastructure support from both the central and State governments.
Dr. Jayasekharan V.P.,
Payyanur, Kannur, Kerala
