Appearing on the Fox News show Sunday Morning Futures this morning, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) said the American people “really need to stop panicking here” regarding the coronavirus outbreak. He did, however, advise people who are sick to “stay home” and to focus all their energy on protecting senior citizens and those with “underlying health concerns.”
“And I’ll just say this too — we were just talking about the economy — there’s a lot of concerns with the economy here because people are scared to go out,” Nunes said. “But I will just say, one of the things we 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.”
“Don’t run to the grocery store and buy $4,000 of food,” he added. “Go to your local pub.”
Nunes’ comments are in direct contrast to the advice of health experts, namely the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who said that he would favor the sort of national lockdown that was recently ordered by Italy’s prime minister.
“You know, I would prefer as much as we possibly could,” Fauci said. “I think we should really be overly aggressive and get criticized for overreacting.”
Watch Nunes’ segment on Fox News in the video below:
