Members of the Trump administration once again encouraged the governors of eight states — including Wyoming — who have not yet issued a stay-at-home order to do so.
Appearing on the national talk show circuit on Sunday, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams were both asked about the states who have thus far not issued a blanket stay-at-home order.
“Are they putting the rest of the country at risk?,” Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan asked Dr. Fauci.
“It isn’t that they are putting the rest of the country at risk, as much as they are putting themselves at risk,” Fauci said.
“This virus doesn’t discriminate whether you are in a small town in a relatively secluded area in the country versus you are in a big city. Sooner or later, you are going to see a surge of cases,” the doctor said.
Late last week, Fauci told CNN that he thought every state in the nation should have stay-at-home orders.
“If you look at what’s going on in this country, I just don’t understand why we’re not doing that. We really should be. I don’t understand why that’s not happening.”
Meet the Press host Chuck Todd asked Surgeon General Adams if he were advising the holdout governors, what would he tell them.
“The next week is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment. It’s going to be our 911 moment. It’s going to be our hardest moment for many Americans in their entire lives,” he said.
“If we really want to flatten that curve and get through to the other side, everyone needs to do their part,” Adams said.
“Ninety million Americans are doing their parts even in the states that they haven’t given us a shelter in place,” he said. “If you can’t give us 30 days, governors, give us a week. Give us what you can. So that we don’t overwhelm our health care systems, over this next week and we’ll reassess at that point.”
“Governors are rightly protective of their ability to determine what is best for their citizens,” Adams added. “We want them to have the science to make the right recommendations.”
Gov. Gordon has argued that Wyoming doesn’t need a formal stay-at-home order.
“My point is and has been that people don’t need to have somebody tell them to put a raincoat on when it’s going to rain,” he said. “And believe me, it is raining.”
He said stay-at-home orders in other states contain many exemptions which make them very similar to the orders already in place in Wyoming.
