GOP Rep. Liz Cheney Warns Against Easing Covid-19 Restrictions: Hospitals Could Be ‘Overwhelmed’

Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney warned against reversing course on Covid-19 containment measures on Tuesday. The Wyoming representative appeared to distance herself from President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the economy should ‘re-open’.

“There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do what’s necessary to stop the virus,” Cheney said, retweeting a thread from Dr Scott Gottlieb.

There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do what’s necessary to stop the virus. https://t.co/AchwfXtuLi

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) March 24, 2020

President Trump has mused about easing the restrictions currently in place as the stock market has experienced steep declines and further economic damage is predicted. Several prominent conservative figures in Trump’s orbit have suggested some deaths would be acceptable for the economic benefit.

“The only way to return to a stable economy and restore our liberty, is to end epidemic spread of Covid-19,” Gottlieb said in the thread Cheney referenced.

https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1242282839686754306

“We need a massive effort to offset the hardship of these efforts, and the public health costs they impose, as there are more than economic costs to the measures we’re taking.”