Lt. Governor: Lift Texas lockdown because "there are more important things than living"

Texas' Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said "there are some things more important than living" as a justification for the state moving ahead with reopening businesses starting next week despite the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
In late March, Patrick called for the economy to reopen as soon as possible, despite cases surging across the US.
"Let's get back to living," he said. "Let's be smart about it. And those of us who are 70-plus, we'll take care of ourselves, but don't sacrifice the country."
Patrick echoed those same sentiments in an April 20 interview on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," saying, "I'm sorry to say I was right on this, and I am thankful we are now beginning to open up Texas and other states, because it's been long overdue."
The governor also claimed that policymakers had "the wrong numbers and the wrong science" because the total number of deaths was below what some models initially projected.

"In Texas, we have 29 million people and we've lost 495. Every life is valuable, but its 500 people out of 29 million, we're locked down, and we're crushing the average worker, we're crushing small business, we're crushing this country," Patrick said.
He added: "What I said when I was with you that night is there are more important things than living. And that's saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us. I don't want to die — nobody wants to die — but, man, we've got to take some risks and get back in the game and get this country back up and running."

Andrew Lawrence@ndrew_lawrence





[ltr]TX Lt Gov Dan Patrick: "There are more important things than living ... I dont want to die, nobody wants to die but man we've got to take some risks"[/ltr]







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Patrick's assertions that the previous models and projections were incorrect ignore that many did not fully account for the stay-at-home orders, shutdowns of businesses, social distancing, and other mitigation measures to slow down the curve of the rate of infections.

The death rates being lower than what some models initially projected does not mean that the virus shouldn't be taken as seriously, but rather that the aggressive steps policymakers have taken to slow the spread are working.