Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Sunday made multiple false comments about COVID-19 during an event in Virginia. Paul was stumping for Republican congressional candidate Nick Freitas.
According to the Daily Beast, Paul told the crowd how he would run a restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If I owned a restaurant, I’d have a whole wing for senior citizens or for anybody who is worried about getting sick, and I would say, ‘All my servers have already had it,'” Paul said. “If I had a cruise ship … everybody would have had the infection that works on the boat.”
Paul, who had previously tested positive for COVID-19, claimed he was now “immune” to the virus.
“I’ve had it. I can’t get it again,” Paul said. “I can’t give it to you, and I can’t get it.”
Paul demonstrated a false understanding of how COVID-19 is spread. There have been multiple cases of former COVID-19 patients being reinfected.
Paul also falsely claimed that cloth face masks do not work.
“I’m not telling you not to wear a mask,” Paul told rally-goers. “The cloth masks … I’m just telling you the truth, they don’t work. Ninety-seven percent of viruses go through a cloth mask.”
According to MIT Medical, there is steadily accumulating evidence that cloth face masks work to prevent the spread of COVID-19, by containing respiratory droplets. Masks, along with social distancing, are effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Paul has frequently argued against shutdown policies to combat the pandemic, due to the economy. He has also clashed with the nation’s top epidemiologist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and criticized New York’s response to the pandemic.
On Twitter, Paul was ripped for his comments about restaurants as well as for his reputation.
Before turning to Rand Paul for medical advice, remember he’s the guy who created his own Board of Ophthalmology in order to self-certify. _♀️ https://t.co/a6opTm0qWS
— Trish Zornio (@trish_zornio) October 26, 2020
.@RandPaul when you want to have a serious conversation about the restaurant industry please call me and I will let you know about what we are facing.also if you want to know what middle America is going through please walk the neighborhoods and talk to the people so you connect. https://t.co/hTuSx6bBta
— Please wear a mask! Do it for the World please… (@chefjoseandres) October 26, 2020
Also, Rand Paul basically described setting up a nursing home as a restaurant, which seems less than ideal
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) October 26, 2020
Don’t forget Rand Paul was also the first Senator to get infected with COVID and it happened because he didn’t believe in it!
— Ryan Marino (@RyanMarino) October 26, 2020
Gottlieb pushes back on Trump’s comments of ’rounding the corner’ on virus: ‘Things are getting worse’
Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is pushing back on President Trump’s repeated comments that the U.S. is “rounding the corner” on coronavirus.
© Greg Nash
Gottlieb pushes back on Trump’s comments of ’rounding the corner’ on virus: ‘Things are getting worse’
Gottlieb told CBS’s “Face The Nation” o Sunday that “things are getting worse.”
“Things are getting worse around the country,” he said. “I think Thanksgiving is really going to be an inflection point. I think December is probably going to be our toughest month.”
Gottlieb said states are “seeing accelerating spread” and the U.S. is “at the beginning of what looks like exponential growth in a lot of states,” including those in the Midwest, the Great Lakes region, Texas, Illinois, Florida and Wisconsin.
“These are very worrisome trends,” he said. “There are about 23 states right now that are accelerating the spread.”
The former FDA official said 15 states have a positivity rate above 10 percent and all of the states are experiencing “an expanding epidemic right now.”
The New York Times documented a record high for new U.S. cases confirmed in a single-day on Friday, at nearly 100,000.
The newspaper categorizes 41 states and territories as places where new cases are “higher” and “staying high.” Eight states and territories were considered places where new cases are “lower but going up.” Almost 30 states and territories are experiencing increasing death tolls.
Overall, the U.S. ranks as the country with the most cases and deaths, with more than 9.1 million cases and 230,732 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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