Republicans have long warned that liberal governors wouldn’t give up their emergency powers easily, and they’ve been proven right. Liberal state governors in Virginia, Oregon, and Michigan have either made certain COVID-19 restrictions permanent or are moving towards doing so even as Republican governors move to reopen.
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who was filmed at a local beach without a mask at the height of the pandemic, led the way by implementing permanent COVID-19 regulations that would require all public-facing employees to wear masks. Oregon is going one step further by creating arcane workplace rules meant to regulate airflow and ventilation. What’s more, the state wants to mandate mask-wearing in public as well as issue strict thresholds for business closures if COVID-19 levels rise about a certain number in any given county.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who made national news by creating as many Draconian new mandates as possible during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, has an entire wish list of regulations that she’d like to turn into permanent laws. These include mask wearing for employees within 6 feet of another person, daily health screenings, and mandatory “COVID-19 safety coordinators” on business premises. People who have been vaccinated would be required to wear a mask indoors.
Naturally, the liberal politicians behind these regulations say it’s all about keeping COVID-19 cases low and preventing deaths. However, the measures are almost certain to decimate what’s left of these state’s economies. Small business owners are unlikely to have extra money on hand to hire a “COVID-19 safety coordinator” or create an “infectious disease and preparedness response plan.”
We’ve already seen how we get out of this mess. Texas ditched mandatory mask-wearing earlier this year and case numbers have yet to rise. In fact, recent statistics show that case numbers are decreasing as a growing number of people get vaccinated. Many of the permanent regulations are disconnected from the current scientific consensus.
COVID-19 lockdown rules were never really about managing the COVID-19 pandemic. While the virus is certainly real and has killed millions around the globe, liberal politicians have always been far more concerned about Draconian control than public health safety. This has been evidenced time and again. In the meantime, it’s the general public that suffers as their rights are restricted or even completely taken away.
