- Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned of an "economic collapse" and urged President Donald Trump to ease the travel and business restrictions for Americans across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Patrick, who will turn 70 years old next week and is in the higher-risk category for contracting the coronavirus, said the lockdowns and shelter-in-place directives were a frightful undertaking — more so than the coronavirus itself.
- Patrick claimed that the restrictions were worse than dying, and said "those of us who are 70 plus" would "take care of ourselves."
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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned of an "economic collapse" and urged President Donald Trump to ease the travel and business restrictions for Americans across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, despite the advice from public health officials that measures like this were needed to slow the disease.
Patrick, who will turn 70 years old next week and is in the higher-risk category for contracting the coronavirus, said the lockdowns and shelter-in-place directives were a frightful undertaking — more than the coronavirus itself.
"I'm not living in fear of COVID-19," Patrick said on Fox News host Tucker Carlson's show on Monday evening. "What I'm living in fear of is what's happening to this country."
Patrick suggested that the shuttering of business in the country, part of numerous guidelines given by state governors to limit the spread of the disease, was irreparably damaging to America's society. While he agreed with and trusted the directives, he noted that any extended closures would be devastating.
States like California, Washington state, and New York, three of the top four states with the most cases, closed businesses and public areas to limit the gathering of people.
In Patrick's state, the Texas Department of State Health Services declared a public health disaster after the coronavirus posed "an immediate threat." Around 352 people were diagnosed as of Monday in Texas, and eight people died.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that Americans may need to continue to adhere to social distancing for several more weeks.
"I cannot see that all of a sudden, next week or two weeks from now it's going to be over," Fauci said on NBC's "TODAY" show. "I don't think there's a chance of that. I think it's going to be several weeks."
Despite the warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health officials, Patrick said he was "all in" for exchanging his "chance on survival" with "keeping the America that all America loves."
"I don't want the whole country to be sacrificed and that's what I see," Patrick said of the restrictions across the country. "So, my message is that let's get back to work. Let's get back to living. Let's be smart about it."
Patrick claimed that the restrictions were worse than dying, and said "those of us who are 70+" would "take care of ourselves."
"But don't sacrifice the country, don't do that," he added.
"We all want to live with our grandchildren as long as we can, but the point is, our biggest gift we give to our country and our children ... is the legacy of our country," Patrick said. "And, right now, that is at risk. And I feel like, as the president said ... do we have to shut down the whole country for this? I think we can get back to work."
Trump suggested he was weighing the restrictions that are intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
"WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF," Trump tweeted on Sunday evening. "AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!"
During a press conference on Monday, Trump said he did not believe the social distancing restrictions would continue beyond months, and that they would be lifted "fairly soon."
"If it were up to the doctors, they may say let's keep it shut down," Trump said, adding that, "You can't do that with a country — especially the No. 1 economy anywhere in the world, by far."
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