Gov. Mike Parson's radio interview on Friday was another disqualifying exercise by a Republican. He admitted children will contract COVID-19 when the schools reopen, but they won't die so it's all good. Nevermind the fact that kids as young as 10 are just as contagious and likely to spread the disease as adults, meaning they'll infect their parents, their grandparents, and anyone else they come into close proximity to for extended periods of time. That fact just doesn't seem to have entered into the equation for Parson and others.
Just stunningly irresponsible ignorance.
Source: St. Louis Today
Parson’s comment on the coronavirus signaled that the decision to send all children back to school would be justified even in a scenario in which all of them became infected with the coronavirus.
St. Louis-area schools are expected to release their reopening plans on Monday.
“These kids have got to get back to school,” Parson told Cox. “They’re at the lowest risk possible. And if they do get COVID-19, which they will — and they will when they go to school — they’re not going to the hospitals. They’re not going to have to sit in doctor’s offices. They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it.”
He emphasized that people who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill should be protected but said most people in the state were smart enough to figure out how to stay safe without government interventions such as mask mandates.
“We gotta move on,” he said. “We can’t just let this thing stop us in our tracks.”
Gov. Mike Parson: “These kids have got to get back to school.... And if they do get COVID-19, which they will — and they will when they go to school — they’re not going to the hospitals.... They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it.” https://t.co/yEtHbYf3sZ pic.twitter.com/SzoieUGPOh
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch (@stltoday) July 20, 2020
State Auditor Nicole Galloway was not impressed.
This is stunning ignorance from @GovParsonMO on how COVID-19 affects children. He admitted that he's okay with your kids (and your families) getting the deadly disease when he sends them back to school. Does he not realize multiple American kids have died after being infected? pic.twitter.com/UZtjt043Fs
— Nicole Galloway (@nicolergalloway) July 17, 2020
This virus doesn’t stop with our children, @GovParsonMO. The teachers, bus drivers, janitors, food service workers, parents, grandparents, and neighbors who our children see every day are susceptible to this virus too. We need a plan that keeps all Missouri families safe. #MOGov pic.twitter.com/QFe2s2Ad0d
— Nicole Galloway (@nicolergalloway) July 18, 2020
