Senator: Reopen Parts Of US, “Death Is Unavoidable”

Business Insider reports:

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called to reopen parts of the American economy to avoid throwing it into a recession or depression. He said “death is an unavoidable part of life” in a USA Today op-ed published Monday.

Though Johnson didn’t advocate to fully start up the economy, he said the crisis should be put into perspective. “What more people are saying is that as we learn more about COVID-19, we should evaluate the total societal cost of this awful disease and try to put things into perspective,” Johnson said.

The Wisconsin senator drew a parallel between the tens of thousands of Americans who die from suicide and the opioid overdose each year, noting “that level of individual despair has occurred in a strong economy.”

Read the full op-ed here.