Gavin Newsom Owes California an Apology

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4/1/2021

Updated:

4/4/2021

Commentary

Gov. Gavin Newsom owes the citizens of California an apology. Telling someone they’re not essential is appalling. Every person and the work they do is essential. Just because a bureaucrat may deem you non-essential, doesn’t mean it’s true.

Florida, Texas, and other states lifted their lockdowns and allowed businesses to open at 100 percent. Here’s a novel idea—provide guidance and education and allow business owners the opportunity to safely operate their businesses. Each day it becomes clearer and clearer: The lockdowns did not work in California.

A study in Scientific Reports looked at 87 regions world-wide and found there was little to no evidence lockdowns work. The European Journal of Clinical Investigation published a peer-reviewed study in January that examined the effects of lockdowns in 10 countries. The doctors compared the countries that had strict lockdown orders such as England, France, and Germany to countries that remained more open throughout the last year, such as Sweden and South Korea. There was “no clear significant beneficial effect” from the stay-at-home orders and business closures.

A study published in Frontiers in Public Health concluded that neither lockdowns nor lockdown severity were correlated with lower death rates. One of the doctors involved in the study was Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford University. I spoke with Bhattacharya; he warned against the dangers of closing businesses and keeping people inside. Recently, he called the lockdowns the “biggest public health mistake we’ve ever made.” I could not agree more with Bhattacharya.

The long-term effects of not having kids in school, of businesses being shutdown, in many cases forever, and people being deemed non-essential will be felt for decades to come.

It’s estimated that 75 percent of restaurants will close permanently due to the lockdowns. Yelp reported that 55 percent of closed businesses listed on its review site have shut down for good because of the lockdowns. Teenage suicide rates are up, at devastating levels, due to isolation and not being allowed in the classroom.

While Californians have suffered, the governor’s children returned to in-person school, his winery remained open, and the thousand-dollar dinner at the French Laundry was a slap in the face to those deemed non-essential.

As the governor prepares for a recall election, it would do him a lot of good to apologize to students, to business owners, to the restaurant industry, to the events industry, and to the millions of Californians whose lives he’s ruined. He needs to stop putting politics before human lives. An apology is the least he can do.

Jim Desmond is a businessman, pilot, U.S. Navy veteran, and San Diego County supervisor. He previously served as the mayor of San Marcos, California (2006–2014).

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.