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.
The Department of Justice has informed former Vice President Mike Pence 's legal team that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the discovery of classified documents at his Indiana home.
Fending off a U.S. default, the Senate gave final approval late Thursday to a debt ceiling and budget cuts package, grinding into the night to wrap up work on the bipartisan deal and send it to President Joe Biden's desk to become law before the fast-approaching deadline.
He wasn't hurt and later joked that he "got sandbagged."
Canada will soon become the first country in the world where warning labels must appear on individual cigarettes.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday that federal agencies are taking new steps to stop racial discrimination in appraising home values by proposing a rule intended to ensure that the automated formulas used to price housing are fair.
Centrist Democrats and Republicans pushed it to approval over blowback from conservatives and some progressives. The Senate is expected to act quickly by the end of the week.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that two state laws banning abortion are unconstitutional, but the procedure remains illegal in the state in nearly all cases except life-threatening situations.
A New York City police officer is speaking out against the use of “courtesy cards” by friends and relatives of his colleagues on the force, accusing department leaders of maintaining a sprawling system of impunity that lets people with a connection to law enforcement avoid traffic tickets.
A Pennsylvania restaurant owner who screamed death threats directed at then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Tuesday to more than two years in prison.
Hard-fought to the end, the debt ceiling and budget cuts package is heading toward a crucial U.S. House vote as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assemble a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans to push it to passage over fierce blowback from conservatives and some progressive dissent.
