Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, told the “Fox News Rundown” podcast Wednesday that he believes the coronavirus blockades were “a big mistake,” adding that they led to a halt in the economy and not “done much for the virus.”
Paul made the comments as several states across the country, including Florida and Texas, are experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases after states reopened their economies. While some areas, including New York City, which remained closed longer, are experiencing a low number of new cases.
New York City recorded no coronavirus deaths on Monday in what would be the first day without deaths in the city since the pandemic began devastating the city in March, the New York Post reported Wednesday, citing state health data.
“We have seen sudden increases in coronaviruses in the midst of the closure,” Paul said Wednesday, adding that “New York had one closure and 30,000 people died.”
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“New York had the worst death rate of any place in the world in the middle of a blockade, so perhaps a blockade did no good and perhaps a blockade killed our economy, but did nothing to stem the tide of the virus.” . he said. “So I don’t see anything to admire in the New York running of the bulls.”
“I see a mountain of people who died, particularly in nursing homes,” continued Paul. “I don’t think the blockade has done them any good. I think it ended the economy, but it was no use trying to contain the virus.”
He went on to say that he believes that as states continue the reopening process, “each individual needs to assess their own risks with respect to the virus.”
“We have to put it in context [that] under 45 this disease [COVID-19] What we are seeing is less dangerous than seasonal flu, “said Paul.” Over 45, it is more dangerous than seasonal flu. ”
“If you’re 80 years old and you’re in a nursing home, we have to do all kinds of things to try to protect you, but I don’t think that means shutting down the economy,” he continued. “I think that implies other precautions.”
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He then noted that “we generally have tens of thousands of people on chemotherapy among us, but we don’t tell the whole country to wear masks because it could transmit a virus to people on chemotherapy.”
“What we do is that people who receive chemotherapy try to be very cautious, stay away from children with infectious diseases or other people who can transmit it, but we don’t shut down the entire economy, even though there are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people with depressed immune systems, ”Paul continued explaining.
“So I think we made a big mistake in blocking. We have paralyzed the economy, but I don’t know if we have done much for the virus. ”
Paul explained what he thinks happened in New York that worked to tame COVID-19.
“The interesting story that most people don’t report is that New York … doesn’t have many deaths right now and it doesn’t have many new cases and people say, ‘Oh, that’s because of the governor. [Andrew] Cuomo is a great governor. No, it has nothing to do with him, ”said Paul.
“I think it has to do with New York City, in particular, now it has reached a level of immunity, that there is a kind of decrease in the virus due to the level of immunity,” he continued, adding that he believes the same is true. in Stockholm, Sweden.
He went on to say that he believes it also happened in “northern Italy, where a large number of people have contracted it and the virus has run its course and will probably not return as significantly as it did the first time.” . “
Last month, the head of a hospital in Milan, Italy stated that the new coronavirus no longer exists in the country, clinically speaking.
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Alberto Zangrillo, head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, told RAI television that the disease has weakened in Italy, the New York Post reported, adding that another doctor, the head of the infectious disease clinic at San Martino hospital in Genoa, Zangrillo echoed. .
Fox News’ Madeline Farber contributed to this report.
