Governor Ralph Northam recommended exercising with COVID after he criticized President Donald Trump’s statement that people shouldn’t let fear of the virus rule them.
“I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good!” Trump tweeted Monday. “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!”
I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020
In a phone interview with The Washington Post, Northam said Trump’s remarks were borderline dangerous.
“This is absolutely the wrong message. It’s irresponsible to make a statement like that.”
The governor also shared that he’d developed mild cold-like symptoms, including a loss of taste and smell. However, Northam revealed that he is still feeling well enough to exercise every day – and recommended others do the same.
“When you’re sick with a virus or have symptoms, it can sometimes make you want to rest – and that’s a good thing, but you also need to get up and move around, get your blood circulating.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists rest as a way to manage COVID. Not exercise.
In his following remarks, Northam alluded that Trump’s assessment might be different if he hadn’t received the quality of care available at Walter Reed.
“[Trump] has access to the best medical care, medications, treatments other people don’t have access to.”
Attorney General candidate Tim Anderson told The Virginia Star that the president was right to say the virus shouldn’t be feared.
“I think the most important thing to look at is the majority of Americans have the symptoms that Northam has had – which are very mild. You have this hyper-politicization of this virus, as if it’s some major death machine,” stated Anderson. “The Democrats’ standard is, unless something’s zero-risk, we should lock everything down. The president clearly is saying, ‘Yes, this is serious, especially for select categories of people – but for the vast majority of Americans: you will be just fine.'”
Trump isn’t the first to tell Americans not to live in fear of COVID. At the end of March, Dr. Anthony Fauci shared a similar message.
“We’re going through a period of time now where we’ve got to, as a country, pull together. Don’t get frightened. Don’t get intimidated. Use [that] energy to be able to confront it and do the kinds of things that will put an end to it.”
In an interview with The Virginia Star, Republican candidate for governor and state Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) said she agreed wholeheartedly with Trump’s message.
“Listen, the president and Governor Northam both got COVID. One supposedly took all the necessary precautions, and the other chose to live freely. And they both got it. I think the message is clear here: we can’t live our lives in fear. We need to reopen our schools, our businesses. COVID is real, but the symptoms are much milder than they’re portrayed. A positive test isn’t a death sentence, like the media portrays. On the floor of the Senate, I’m the only one who doesn’t wear a mask. They’ve built a plexiglass wall around me – I call it my wall of freedom. My face will continue to be the face of freedom, and so will President Trump’s.”
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ralph Northam” by Governor of Virginia.
