This week on Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade seemed to suggest that Republican Governors like Alabama’s Kay Ivey who have refused to issue broad lockdown orders for their state amidst the Coronavirus pandemic were in the clear, but the network’s medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier promptly schooled Kilmeade that in reality, there’s no reason to think that further outbreaks in these Republican-led states aren’t looming on the horizon. Now is not the time for partisan insistence upon state identity — now is the time for these governors to take the potential for Coronavirus spread in their states beyond current levels seriously.
Dr. Saphier explained:
‘We need to put the onus on the governors for their states and make sure that they’re taking responsibility for their states, and they also need to call out their own citizens who aren’t taking responsibility for stopping the spread of this illness… They know their citizens, and they know what needs to be done. We still have hotspots in states that are rapidly increasing cases faster than they would expect. Everyone thinks that New York City is the hot spot and that’s the only one that’s going to be, but that’s not true. Anywhere can be like New York City, we are seeing right now, and they are just a few weeks behind.’
Indeed, locales from New Jersey to Louisiana to Michigan have been facing rapid and substantial increases in both confirmed cases and total deaths from the virus. Projections for a national peak date of infection put it at least a week and a half away, meaning that there’s a significant national climb in cases left to go — and confirmed cases in the U.S. already total almost a quarter of a million. Almost 6,100 Americans and counting have already died from the Coronavirus, too.
Dr. Saphier noted:
‘Alabama is starting to have increase in cases, too. I agree that each state needs to do what’s best for their state. However, you are starting to see those cases increase and what’s happening in Louisiana is going to happen in Alabama, too.’
Watch below:
Brian Kilmeade defends AL Gov. Kay Ivey's refusal to issue a stay at home order because its not "bad" there yet, unlike Louisiana. Dr. Nicole Saphier responds "look what's happening in her state right now … what's happening in Louisiana is going to happen in Alabama too." pic.twitter.com/9SqtgCo7TB
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) April 3, 2020
The highly watched, Republican-led state of Florida did finally come around to issuing lockdown orders recently — but that came after thousands upon thousands of cases were confirmed in the state, and after spring breakers flocked into and out of the state, potentially helping spread the Coronavirus to their home communities and those in between. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a close Trump ally, said he was taking cues from the White House in response to criticism over his inaction, but politicizing the response to a major, increasingly deadly pandemic does not pay.
Stay-at-home orders are now in effect for millions of Americans, which has driven establishments like restaurants and bars to close. In the wake of broad attempts to stem the spread of the Coronavirus, around ten million people have newly filed for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks alone. A recently enacted Coronavirus relief package includes an expansion of unemployment benefits for a weeks-long period amidst the crisis.
