The establishment media have latched onto a narrative that government officials who have taken measures to reopen their economies, particularly Republican governors, are going to kill people.
They aren’t going to let the facts or science get in the way.
Left-wing media outlets are hoping to use Georgia, which has been aggressive at lifting restrictions on business, as a case study in how Republicans want to sentence people to death.
One newspaper even attempted to prematurely link new cases of the coronavirus to Gov. Brian Kemp’s loosening of lockdown restrictions.
The New York Daily News reported an increase of the state’s confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday and seemed to deceptively attach them to Kemp’s decision.
“Georgia sees 1,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours as it emerges from lockdown,” a Daily News headline declared before the dust had even settled inside the state’s newly reopened businesses.
There are two issues with the report, which cited the numbers from the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The first was the suggestion that those cases were in some way linked to the state’s easing restrictions on businesses or the statewide lockdown order being lifted.
Kemp lifted lockdown restrictions on willing businesses, including gyms, hair and nail salons and tattoo parlors, and permitted restaurants to offer dine-in services, late last month.
These businesses were all allowed to reopen as long as they followed public safety guidelines, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, which included staff and customers continuing to use physical distancing as a mitigation tool.
The Republican governor also asked people in his state to wear masks to protect themselves and their neighbors as Georgia attempts to avert an economic calamity.
Businesses previously designated nonessential could open beginning on April 24, with restaurants cleared to serve customers in-person beginning on April 27, Kemp ordered.
Replies