Governor Kay Ivey has announced that she does not plan to reopen up the state today or anytime this week.
In fact, when asked, public health officials made it clear they were going to try to abide by the Trump administration’s guidelines of 14 days of declining new coronavirus infections and ample testing.
With this decision and the statement of other officials at the press conference, it seems like the May 1 date is the earliest the state will start to reopen.
What is interesting about this decision, as right as I think it is, it contradicts many of the opinions Ivey sought on this matter.
Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth made his recommendations last week and has regularly posted on Twitter that he thinks it is time to get open right now.
Well he needs to talk to the hundreds of other restaurants who want to open safely now. https://t.co/wPOmIotWcN
— Will Ainsworth (@willainsworthAL) April 21, 2020
Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) polled medical professionals and business leaders in the state. The majority said to open now or on May 1, according to online reports.
Out of 205 responses, roughly 29 percent said businesses should open immediately; 35 percent said a May 1 opening would be appropriate. Seventeen percent said either May 15 or June 1 openings would be appropriate. Twenty percent said “other.”
Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) appeared on WVNN in Huntsville shortly before Ivey’s press conference on Tuesday, and said the economic damage is mounting and needs to end.
“The coronavirus did a lot of economic damage, but the shutdowns have done far worse,” he advised.
Brooks also talked about where a committee of leaders he called on for advice in North Alabama stood on reopening Alabama based on a vote.
- 10-4 vote to let the stay-at-home order naturally expire on April 30th
- 10-0 vote to kill it immediately
- 13-1 vote to abide by President Trump’s recommended reopening timeline
My takeaway:
Ivey is definitely bucking the trend of popular opinion in her party if she pushes past April 30, and she needs a shoutout from President Donald Trump at a press conference or on social media to help blunt some of the criticism she is receiving in the short-term.
It is still unclear whether Ivey will extend her order beyond April 30. If she does, and there is not an obvious reason to do so, expect the chorus of those calling for the state to reopen to grow louder.
Listen:
Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 AMweekdays on WVNN.
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