Gov. Brad Little told the business community Thursday that Idaho is at a critical fork in the road when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to a physically-distanced crowd at the College of Southern Idaho, Little rehashed the state’s standout economic recovery, which includes a projected $530 million budget surplus partially built on the back of across the board cuts to state agencies prior to the arrival of the coronavirus.
But he also warned business leaders what Idahoans do in the coming weeks in response to the pandemic could harm that economic recovery, the health of our friends and family or shut schools – in that order.
Hospitals are quickly running out of doctors, nurses and space both here and in neighboring states.
“We just assume that if something happens, we’re going to have healthcare,” he said. “That’s going to be in jeopardy.”
Little said it’s been hard to counter misinformation and conspiracy theories about masks and rising hospital numbers, despite hosting dozens of press conferences where he’s hammered home the message of wearing a mask and to physically distance from others.
“If I was going to do something different, I would’ve had those doctors standing shoulder to shoulder with me … talking about the magnitude of the problem,” he said.
Earlier this week, Little added a handful of new restrictions that were panned as both “half-baked” by those wanting a statewide mask mandate and out of line by far-right lawmakers.
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