Fresno council member says Bee story mischaracterized his views on coronavirus

We are facing a serious global pandemic. Our country has also been significantly affected, with the worst area being New York, which has more than 50% of all cases in the United States. We, however, cannot let fear rule us.

People are told not to panic, yet they see on their TV screens “death and case tickers” go up every day. A little over a week ago Gov. Newsom stated that 25.5 million people in California will get COVID-19 within the next 8 weeks, 64% of the entire state! Yet, as of Friday morning, there were 4,000 cases in the state. We know the numbers, of course, will continue to climb, but Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, cautioned against making such dire predictions, as they’re made assuming nothing is being done to prevent spread of the disease, which is clearly not the case.

Dr. Jerome Adams, the U.S. surgeon general, has stated: “Almost all people will recover. Ninety-eight, 99% of people will recover. People need to know that.” They certainly do. But even with that high recovery rate, people need to follow all the CDC guidelines and maintain social distancing to keep themselves and their families safe.

To address some of the fears in our community regarding coronavirus, I did a video that can be seen on my Facebook page. Despite The Bee never contacting me, it did a story about the video that falsely gave the impression I opposed the recommendations from the doctors and health community regarding COVID-19. Outrageous! The headline stated, “Fresno leader says coronavirus reaction has gone too far. Here’s what experts have said.” The headline is completely misleading.

In the video, I criticized the local attempt by the mayor and council president to place a lockdown (“shelter in place”) under the criminal threat of a year in jail and $1,000 fine. I vehemently oppose government being so heavy-handed, as did our police chief and city manager, and eventually those threats were removed. This potential criminal threat to our citizens would’ve created much fear and was outrageous.

I pointed out the low number of cases in our community at that time, that many were travel-related, and said the numbers will be going up, which they have. I criticized Newsom’s statement and said we’d have to have 456,000 cases every day for the next eight weeks to reach 25.5 million. Globally, we have 525,000 cases and they’re rising.

I pointed out there are about 60 local so-called “nonessential” business categories that were ordered to shut down, and these businesses comprise real people with real needs, bills, obligations, children and families. Shutting down our $22 trillion national economy for any significant length of time would wreak more human suffering and pain, the likes of which we have not seen since the Great Depression. I cautioned that as decisions are made, we must remember these people as well.

Today, it was reported that 3.3 million people filed for unemployment this past week. The previous record was 695,000 in 1982. These numbers are staggering and will also surely go up. Threats of any long-standing nature to our economy will result in real costs in human lives, as well. If people can’t provide for their families, homelessness will increase, children won’t get adequate nutrition, physical and mental health issues will dramatically increase, and the elderly will be adversely affected. A thriving U.S. economy has done more to help people physically, economically, and emotionally and is why life expectancy has gradually increased.

These concerns in no way diminish the seriousness of this health crisis. I support and have supported all efforts to “flatten the curve” on this deadly and dangerous virus, even if it means short-term impacts to our economy. But these decisions must be driven by data related to the virus and not by some politicians and media that exacerbate the panic and fear.

I pointed out that by most accounts, South Korea has handled the health crisis well. They did three specific things: testing, monitoring of symptoms and quarantine. They did not shut down their entire economy. Are we behind in testing and protective gear? Absolutely. But the lesson from South Korea is that perhaps we can be more surgical in our approach. With nearly 60% of all COVID-19 cases in New York, is it necessary to shut down the entire nation? Ongoing data analysis, which is changing daily, should drive the answer and action.

To provide some perspective, we know the flu kills about 34,000-60,000 people in the United States annually and there are 28 million-50 million people who get the flu in the United States every year. We don’t shut down the entire economy every year as a result nor do we put “death tickers” regarding the flu on CNN and Fox News as is currently being done. Yes, there is a vaccine and the medical community can anticipate the flu every year. Clearly there are tremendous differences with COVID-19 and the flu, but we must again allow data to influence decisions, not fear and panic.

I also stated that as we face this terrible disease, we must remember that we’re Americans and live in the greatest country on Earth. We have met every challenge, be it world wars, polio, 9/11 or the Great Depression. We will defeat this virus. I again want to thank all the heroes on the front lines of this pandemic. From doctors, nurses, medical technicians, pharmacists, farmers, farm workers, truck drivers, grocery stores, and so many more. What always makes our country great is our people.

As I stated on the video, please follow all of the CDC guidelines. Maintain social distance, wash your hands repeatedly, stay home if not well, work at home if possible, and protect the elderly and those with compromised immune symptoms. Please visit coronavirus.gov to learn about all of the guidelines. With all of us working together and relying on data not fear, we’ll get through this and ensure our citizens and nation remain healthy, now and always.

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 11:16 AM.