State Health Officer Dr. Harris: ‘Makes perfect sense’ to wait for a couple more weeks of coronavirus declines to open businesses back up

The reopening of Alabama’s economy may have to wait two more weeks based on comments from Alabama State Officer Dr. Scott Harris, who has the statutory authority to make judgments about reopening businesses forced to close as part of the response to the coronavirus outbreak.

That seems to contradict the recommendations of Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth’s Small Business Commission Emergency Task Force, which sought to have many sectors of the economy to get back to work “immediately.”

Harris told Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal” host Don Dailey more time was needed when asked about the possibility of waiting two weeks to reopen Alabama.

“I think that makes perfect sense, and that’s consistent with what the White House has said, and what [Health and Human Services] has told the rest of the states,” Harris said. “It takes about two weeks to know if you are on the decline or not. Watching numbers for a day or two doesn’t really help that much. So, after a couple of weeks, I think we’ll have a good of where we are then can make better decisions about where to go next.”

“Clearly, the economy can’t stay shut down,” he added. “Everybody understands that. There has to be a way to get people to work and restore their livelihoods. And at the same time, we have to protect our most vulnerable people. Chronic disease factors are a real risk of dying from this disease, and chronic diseases are found in about a third of our citizens. These are people in our workforce. These aren’t necessarily seniors. Seniors are also very vulnerable. But many people who are not seniors are just ordinary working people who have diabetes. They have heart disease, or they have lung disease. We really have to find a way to protect these people.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.