The Federalist Senior Editor Mollie Hemingway criticized California’s strict lockdown policies for not only failing to prevent a public health crisis but also disregarding scientific findings and hurting people and the economy in the process.
“If lockdowns worked in terms of public health, California would not be having a problem right now,” Hemingway said on Fox News’ “Outnumbered” on Monday.
“The New York Times is reporting that, of these shortages in hospitals, a big part is staffing shortages,” she continued. “That’s because something like one out of every seven nurses is unable to work because of the lockdowns of schools. If a lot of nurses have children, and when their children aren’t able to be at school, that means they can’t be at the hospitals.”
Hemingway noted that instead of following the science about COVID-19 spread, many government officials “haven’t thought through the repercussions of these things” and chose to mandate lockdowns and shut down the economy.
“A lot of governors and mayors and other government officials want to look like they’re doing something rather than actually following the science,” Hemingway said.
“There is no scientific basis for shuttering schools. There is no scientific basis for shuttering restaurants for the reasons that you already alleged,” she continued, noting that restaurants in New York were shut down for just over a 1 percent virus transmission rate.
While states such as California and New York have turned to strict lockdowns and restrictions on activities, Hemingway said these restrictions have caused great harm to people and businesses.
“The reality is this is a virus. It’s going to behave as a virus,” Hemingway concluded. “And it is not something as simple as what we have been told will keep these things under control, whether it’s mask mandates or destroying small businesses so these large corporations can flourish.”
