Sen. Johnson thinks U.S. went too far in shutting down the economy

More than 2 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, leading some political leaders to question whether the government went too far in shutting down businesses. 

Wisconsin’s senior senator, Ron Johnson, says more companies should have been kept open in recent weeks. 

Johnson says quarantines were needed for those very sick from COVID-19, but distancing measures seem to have worked in ‘flattening the curve,’ and he argues that every job is essential to somebody.

“But, keep as much of our economy open as safely as possible,” Johnson tells WIZM’s La Crosse Talk. “We really did incur far more economic devastation than we needed to, and I think we ramped up the fear factor on this disease more than is truly justified by what the facts are.”

Senator Johnson points to many hospitals which had to lay off doctors and nurses, after they didn’t get as many coronavirus cases as they had feared and told other patients to stay home. 

The senator says that business closings should have been limited to the industries where the spread of coronavirus was the most likely.            

Johnson believes the world should hold China accountable for not doing more to prevent the virus from spreading to other countries.