 |
| © Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, Pool Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Mich., April 17, 2020. |
From ABC News
Two governors of states fighting the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus each said on ABC's "This Week" that public officials have a responsibility to circulate accurate medical information about the pandemic and how to fight it.
"When the person with the most powerful position on the planet is encouraging people to think about disinfectants whether it was serious or not, people listen," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. "And so we have seen an increase in numbers of people calling poison control and so I think it's really important that every one of us with a platform disseminate medically accurate information," she added.
President Donald Trump suggested in his Thursday briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force that sunlight, high humidity or possibly an "injection" of "the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute" could be COVID-19 treatments, he responded to backlash over the remarks on Friday saying that he was being sarcastic.
"This has been important to me from day one, communicating, very clearly on the facts, because people listen to these press conferences they listen when the governor holds a press conference and they certainly, pay attention when the president of the United States is standing there giving a press conference," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said, appearing after Whitmer.
"We had hundreds of calls come in to our emergency hotline at our health department asking if it was -- if it was right to ingest Clorox or, you know, alcohol cleaning products, whether that was going to help them fight the virus, so we had to put out that warning to make sure that people we're not doing something like that which would kill people," he added.
Both Maryland and Michigan have also experienced protests in recent weeks calling on the states’ governors to roll back their social distancing orders, as demonstrators have argued the economic toll cancels out any health benefits.
While Whitmer extended Michigan's stay-at-home order until May 15, she relaxed certain social distancing policies on Friday, allowing some recreational activities and permitting in-state travel.
Hogan laid out a three-phase plan on Friday to reopen Maryland’s economy, but he has stressed that the the state would not begin to reopen until the daily number of new cases decreased for 14 days straight.
See more at ABC News
Two governors of states fighting the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus each said on ABC's "This Week" that public officials have a responsibility to circulate accurate medical information about the pandemic and how to fight it.
"When the person with the most powerful position on the planet is encouraging people to think about disinfectants whether it was serious or not, people listen," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. "And so we have seen an increase in numbers of people calling poison control and so I think it's really important that every one of us with a platform disseminate medically accurate information," she added.
President Donald Trump suggested in his Thursday briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force that sunlight, high humidity or possibly an "injection" of "the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute" could be COVID-19 treatments, he responded to backlash over the remarks on Friday saying that he was being sarcastic.
"This has been important to me from day one, communicating, very clearly on the facts, because people listen to these press conferences they listen when the governor holds a press conference and they certainly, pay attention when the president of the United States is standing there giving a press conference," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said, appearing after Whitmer.
"We had hundreds of calls come in to our emergency hotline at our health department asking if it was -- if it was right to ingest Clorox or, you know, alcohol cleaning products, whether that was going to help them fight the virus, so we had to put out that warning to make sure that people we're not doing something like that which would kill people," he added.
Both Maryland and Michigan have also experienced protests in recent weeks calling on the states’ governors to roll back their social distancing orders, as demonstrators have argued the economic toll cancels out any health benefits.
While Whitmer extended Michigan's stay-at-home order until May 15, she relaxed certain social distancing policies on Friday, allowing some recreational activities and permitting in-state travel.
Hogan laid out a three-phase plan on Friday to reopen Maryland’s economy, but he has stressed that the the state would not begin to reopen until the daily number of new cases decreased for 14 days straight.
See more at ABC News
