Public health officials have been admonishing people to dial back their social interaction, and in some cases, through means like abrupt bans on travel to and from Europe, that dialing back has been enforced pretty strictly — but Devin Nunes apparently missed that memo. This Sunday during an appearance on Fox News, the California Congressman insisted that observers should go on out and support their local businesses during this economically trying time enacted by the Coronavirus. He made no apparent mention of the grave dangers of that called for social interaction, especially for those especially susceptible to the effects of the virus, even if those going out are healthy! They could still transmit.
Nunes commented:
‘What the American people need to understand is we need to stop panicking. There’s no shortage of food in this country. People don’t need to go to the store and fight over a bottle of water or toilet paper… We want you to buy food!.. There’s a lot of concerns with the economy here because people are scared to go out. But I will just say, one of the things you can do if you’re healthy, you and your family, it’s a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant, likely you can get in easily. Let’s not hurt the working people in this country that are relying on wages and tips to keep their small business going.’
Watch:
You know, Devin, there’s government assistance available for individuals struggling through the economic upheaval of Coronavirus prep, but Senate Republicans decided to take a long weekend break rather than passing it already.
It would probably be easier for people to avoid panic if those in charge seemed fazed in the slightest by what was going on rather than sticking to hiding inside their partisanship turtle shells. It was not long ago at all that Trump was insisting, in contrast to the then-available evidence, that the Coronavirus would quickly disappear and wasn’t an issue. He even called concern a “hoax.”
In the meantime — why does Nunes think that many locales in the U.S. and abroad have been enforcing lockdowns? These lockdowns are not contingent upon whether or not Nunes thinks one is healthy enough to go out. The Seattle area completely banned gatherings of 250 or more people for the time being, and schools across the country, in both red and blue states, are closed. In Spain, where authorities have reported some 1,300 new cases in the last 24 hours alone, residents “have been ordered to stay at home, allowed out only to buy food and medicine or travel to work, health centres or banks,” The Guardian reports. Does Nunes think that’s all just some kind of liberal conspiracy?
In reality, the virus is continuing to spread throughout the community, and the more interconnected that community is, the farther it goes. The virus has been documented in every single state but West Virginia so far, and case numbers are rapidly increasing, meaning it’s possible that it’s present undetected in locales with those restaurants that Nunes wants people to visit.
