Reopening amid coronavirus should prioritize ‘healthcare needs’ before ‘economic challenge’: Meg Whitman

While cases of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. continue to grow, President Donald Trump announced a council of industry leaders devoted to reopening the economy and anti-quarantine protesters descended on the Ohio statehouse urging Republican Governor Mike Dewine to end the state’s stay-at-home order, citing its devastating financial impact.

In a newly released interview, taped on April 7, former Hewlett Packard CEO and Republican fundraiser Meg Whitman pushed back on efforts to quickly restore economic activity, saying public officials should prioritize health care needs over financial recovery when weighing decisions to relax isolation measures and reopen businesses.

“I know everyone is anxious to get back to work — there’s no question the economic cost here is enormous,” Whitman says. “But it’s most important, in my view, how do we save lives.”

“How do we make sure that the health care needs get taken care of first,” adds Whitman, who ran as a Republican candidate for governor of California in 2010 but supported Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy in 2016. “Then we’ll figure out how to get out of this, you know, economic challenge.”

“It’s a balance, of course, but I think you have to come down on the side of the scientists,” says Whitman, CEO of Quibi, a streaming platform focused on short-form programming that launched on April 6.

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On Tuesday, Trump said he was near a plan to end the coronavirus shutdown and restore the ailing U.S. economy, noting that some parts of the effort could go into effect before May. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a plan to reopen the economy in coordination with other West coast states; and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a day before that he would work with six nearby on a reopening plan.

Trump falsely claimed on Monday that the president has “total authority” to relax restrictions imposed by governors on their states; but on Tuesday he reversed the sentiment, saying “the governors are responsible.” Both Gov. Newsom and Gov. Cuomo have cautioned that experts, not politics would drive their reopening decisions.

“You have to listen to the healthcare professionals and the scientists and say, what’s the right thing to do for the health of our people, and then, you know, then try to figure out how we’re going to come out of this once that is well under control,” Whitman says.

“This will eventually come to a point where people can go back to work, but I think you have to keep people safe, first and foremost,” she adds.

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Whitman made the remarks during a conversation that aired in an episode of Yahoo Finance’s “Influencers with Andy Serwer,” a weekly interview series with leaders in business, politics, and entertainment.

Whitman praised the coronavirus response of Gov. Newsom, who issued a stay-at-home order in California on March 19, making his state one of the first to do so.

“I think California has done a good job here,” she says. “You’re starting to see the flattening of the curve.”

“I think Gavin Newsom has stepped up,” she adds. “Created a sense of urgency really early on, got people to shelter in place.”

As of Thursday morning, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose to more than 639,600, as the worldwide total surpassed 2 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of people diagnosed with the disease in the U.S. has grown dramatically since March 1, when there were roughly 100 confirmed cases.

Whitman said she did not know how long the business shutdowns would last, but said she expect them to continue at least for the next couple weeks.

“I’m pretty much assuming we’re not going to go back to work for all of April and maybe May,” she says. “Then let’s see what happens.”

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