“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade on Friday morning appeared to defend the group of Republican governors who have not yet issued statewide stay-at-home orders to tackle the spread of the coronavirus.
But Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier was quick to counter Kilmeade and explain why it was imperative for governors ― and not President Donald Trump, she said ― to take responsibility for their own citizens amid the pandemic that has so far killed more than 6,000 people nationwide.
“We still have hot spots in states that are rapidly increasing in cases, faster than they would expect,” warned Saphier, the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New Jersey.
“Everyone thinks that New York City is the hot spot and that’s the only one that’s going to be, but that’s not true,” Saphier added. “Anywhere can be like New York City. [What] we’re seeing right now, they’re just a few weeks behind.”
In New York City, more than 1,500 people have now died of complications from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Kilmeade noted how Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) had last week refused to issue a stay-in-place order, claiming “we are not Louisiana, we are not New York state, we are not California,” while Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) said it was “difficult to make a blanket policy for the state.”
“Well, look what’s happening in her [Ivey’s] state right now,” Saphier noted of Alabama, which has experienced a noted uptick in recent days with more than 1,200 confirmed cases.
“Well, Louisiana is bad but Alabama isn’t,” responded Kilmeade. Louisiana has almost 10,000 confirmed cases.
“Well, Alabama is starting to have an increase in cases, too,” Saphier fired back. “You know, I agree that each state needs to do what’s best for their state. However, you are starting to see those cases increase and what’s happening in Louisiana is going to happen in Alabama too.”
Kilmeade noted how social distancing measures have now been in place “for two and a half weeks now” and asked “why isn’t our curve bending?”
Check out the clip here:
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