Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Ohio 85th District) joined hundreds of protesters at the Ohio state capitol over the weekend, making him one of the few lawmakers to give his tacit support for the small but vocal group of people who are arguing against stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus.
The representative has taken a hard line against any government intervention to combat the virus.
"To me, it comes down to individual liberty and freedom," Vitale told Cheddar. "I don't believe it's the government's job to manage our health care."
The spike in cases that followed a similar protest in Kentucky has not discouraged Vitale.
"The government can tell us what the risks are and propose things to us, but to shut everything down and strip us of our freedoms is completely inappropriate in my opinion," he said.
Some Republican governors have already heeded protestors' demands with plans to ease restrictions in the coming weeks, in some cases ahead of their own benchmarks.
Vitale referenced a new study out of the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health that found antibodies to the virus in 4.1 percent of the county’s adult population, suggesting a much higher rate of exposure than previously reported.
The representative said he interprets the data as a sign that coronavirus is much less lethal than many believed, and that governments should accordingly scale down preventative measures.
"When do we stop petitioning or stop restaurants from opening during flu season? We don't. It's a risk that we take," Vitale said.
However, from the same study, Santa Clara County Executive Dr. Jeff Smith interpreted the findings differently, believing the added risk of more asymptomatic carriers bolsters the need for stay-at-home orders, according to The Mercury News.
There have been 13,250 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 538 related deaths in Ohio.
President Joe Biden highlighted progress in chipping away at so-called junk fees as a “win for consumers” Thursday, as he met at the White House with executives from Live Nation, Airbnb and other companies that have taken steps to embrace more transparent pricing.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a busload of migrants to downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, prompting Mayor Karen Bass to respond to Abbott's move as a "despicable stunt."
The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved the system that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children, rejecting a broad attack from some Republican-led states and white families who argued it is based on race.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it hopes to weed out false or misleading animal-welfare claims on meat and poultry packaging with new guidance and testing.
New York City is paying to house newly-arrived migrants in hotel rooms. Cheddar News takes a closer look at one of the hotels, the Holiday Inn, which is housing about 15,000 migrants over the next 15 months.
We've been closely following the migrants that were sent to various cities across the United States. Now New York City is paying for hotel rooms for migrants who were sent there. Cheddar's own Ashley Mastronardi has a closer look at one of the hotels.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill that stops public schools and libraries from banning books.
The Biden administration reached a deal to preserve a federal mandate requiring health insurers to cover preventive care at no extra cost for patients.
Former President Donald Trump arrives for his arraignment in Miami.
The government can keep enforcing “Obamacare” requirements that health insurance plans cover preventative care — such as HIV prevention, some types of cancer screenings and other illnesses — while a legal battle over the mandates plays out, under a court agreement approved Tuesday.
