‘I think part of it is people don’t know who to believe…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has never missed an opportunity to attack President Donald Trump, on Tuesday avoided the temptation that many of his fellow Democrats have fallen into and instead implied that the Coronavirus hysteria is largely overblown and media-driven.
Cuomo even admitted he is actively working with the Trump administration and its Coronavirus Taskforce as the virus breaks out in his state.
“I speak to the federal officials, I speak to Vice President Pence, I speak to the Health and Human Services personnel, Department of Homeland Security personnel, the whole alphabet soup of personnel,” Cuomo told MSNBC.
“I get my information from medical professionals … to make sure we’re getting medical information and not political information,” he continued. “So I get the best medical information I can, put the politics aside, and then we develop a system on the state level to actually address the problem.”
As of Wednesday, New York had six confirmed cases.
But Cuomo assured residents that there is no need to panic.
“I think part of the issue here is we have been unrealistic in the expectation, right?” he told MSNBC.
“We have a daily revelation, there’s a new case here, new case here, community spread case,” he continued. “I’ve said from day one, you look at the numbers, you look at the math, we’re going to have dozens and dozens and dozens of cases in the State of New York. That’s my expectation.”
He added that the panic was unfounded since the majority of the population was unlikely to succumb to the virus, even if the infection did spread. As with all viruses, the body itself plays the biggest role in building immunity.
“The bottom line realization that 80 percent of the people will self-cure, self-resolve the virus and the target problem,” Cuomo said. “The 1.2% mortality is senior citizens and people who have compromised immune systems.”
College students traveling back to New York from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy will be quarantined for 14 days, Cuomo announced. Several universities and schools have also shut down until the risk of spreading the virus has passed.
Cuomo blasted the “damning commentary” and political back-and-forth that has spread panic about the coronavirus, and reminded MSNBC viewers that they’re more likely to catch the flu, which has a greater likelihood of causing death.
“I think part of it is people don’t know who to believe,” he explained. “You have Democrats blaming Republicans for not doing enough. Republicans say Democrats are hyping it. And it’s that political filter that says to people, ‘I don’t know who to believe and I don’t even know how bad this is.’ And that’s what generates fear, it’s the unknown.”