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After a month of unprecedented actions taken to mitigate the Wuhan virus COVID-19, which has shut down the entire country, America is growing weary of social distancing and is ready to go back to work.
Nowhere is the toll being felt more than in municipalities facing the financial fallout over the decision to lock down the economy. Democrat or Republican, many officials find themselves on the same page as President Donald Trump in saying that it’s time to reopen America.
Look to Las Vegas, for example, where the Democratic mayor is calling for casinos and hotels to reopen because the cure is proving to be more deadly than the disease.
Las Vegas’s mayor calls for hotels and casinos to reopen, says shutdown makes no sense. pic.twitter.com/WjBadLg4iv
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 16, 2020
At a Wednesday city council meeting, Mayor Carolyn Goodman called on Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, a fellow Democrat, to reopen the state, characterizing the forced closure of nonessential businesses in the city as “total insanity,” according to KVVU-TV.
“From my perspective, we must open our city. We must open Southern Nevada and we must open the state of Nevada,” Goodman said.
“We can not live, going forward, with the medical and health industry telling us that this virus is going to be around longer than a month or two, maybe even a year,” she said. “We can not keep our heads in the sand and think it’s going to go away. We are adults with brains who know what to do, to wash our hands, to take all precautions not to spread this disease.”
Beseeching the governor to take action, she said the shutdown “is killing us already.”
“From my perspective, I am asking, open the city, open Clark County, open the state,” Goodman stated. “For heaven’s sake, for being closed is killing us already and killing Las Vegas, our industry, our convention and tourism business that we have all worked so hard to build. The longer we wait to do this, the more impossible it will be to recover and return to the home we all know and love.”
The mayor noted the obvious in stressing that the coronavirus is “not going away.”
“It’s not going to be going away this month, next month,” she said, “and much like the flu and other viruses that have impacted populations around the world, this virus, or a derivative thereof, will be part of what we work through going forward.”
After noting Nevada has a population of 3.2 million people, with 2.6 million living in Southern Nevada, Goodman then compared that to 128 COVID-19 deaths in the state, the Fox affiliate reported.
“Tragically, we have already lost, to this virus, 128 individuals in Nevada,” she said, before offering her sympathies and condolences to those who have lost loved ones to the virus.
“But let me tell you, with a population of 3.2 million living in Nevada, those whom we have lost represent less than a half of one percent of our population, which has caused us to shut down our entire state and everything that makes Nevada unique,” Goodman said.
Again, Goodman is a Democrat — which may explain why her comments were not the lead story on CNN.
She said there are an estimated 900,000 people who have lost their jobs, and 300,000 have filed for unemployment.
“These are families that no longer have the ability to buy food for their children and other loved ones,” Goodman said. “Pay their bills. Pay their rent. Pay their mortgage. Pay their car payment. Or enjoy the life that they had prior to this shutdown.”
“Small businesses and those on week-to-week paychecks have been forced to close,” she said. “Entire savings that were invested in these small businesses are being lost or are have already been lost. Hotels and restaurants, our entire tourism and convention industry business, has been shut down.”
“It makes no sense. It makes no sense,” Goodman reiterated.
Based on the online reactions, there are plenty of people who agree with the mayor — here’s a sampling of responses from Twitter:
Open everything up and those who are afraid to get sick can stay home.
Simple as that.— joseph swinford (@jswin777) April 16, 2020
So that makes those businesses essential to the city, right?
— Zak (@z_koz9) April 16, 2020
Time to reopen America not just Vegas!
— Sam (@trueamericanaz) April 16, 2020
How many from California would flock to Las Vegas if they opened back up tomorrow. Millions guaranteed. I would.
— Steve Johnson (@SteveJo72762241) April 16, 2020
My new hero
— The Old Man from KC (@GregoryLea1) April 16, 2020
Someone with a brain. Refreshing. Way to go Vegas. Good move.
— Mike McCrary (@MikeMcCrary11) April 16, 2020
I’m born and raised in Las Vegas and I’m shocked by the amount of hatred and vitriol she’s receiving from locals. She understands that the economic impact from this will be MUCH worse in Vegas than anywhere else. This will make ‘08 pale in comparison.
— Jake Gifford (@JBGiff18) April 16, 2020
She’s not wrong…
— Amy Stephens (@owen_smommy) April 16, 2020
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