GOP State Lawmaker: ‘I Want To See More People’ Get Coronavirus

A GOP lawmaker in Alabama said he’s “not concerned” about the current spike in cases of the coronavirus in the state.

“In fact, quite honestly, I want to see more people, because we start reaching an immunity as more people have it and get through it,” Alabama state Sen. Del Marsh told reporters Thursday.

“I don’t want any deaths — as few as possible,” he continued. “So those people who are susceptible to the disease, especially those with preexisting conditions, elderly population, those folks, we need to do all we can to protect them. But I’m not concerned. I want to make sure that everybody can receive care. And right now we have, to my knowledge as of today, we still have ample beds.”

Check out Marsh’s comments here:

In his comments, Marsh ― who sits on the state’s coronavirus task force ― appeared to be referring to the idea of herd immunity, which contends that a virus will not spread as easily once a certain high percentage of the population has contracted it or been vaccinated, and therefore developed the necessary antibodies.

The controversial approach has been contested by scientists and public health experts: Herd immunity could still be a long way off from happening, if it does at all with this virus, even with a vaccine.

Marsh’s comments drew scorn on Twitter:

Alabama on Wednesday recorded its highest-ever tally of new cases ― more than 1,800, according to the state’s Department of Public Health:

Dr. Don Williamson, the president of the Alabama Hospital Association, warned on Thursday that the state’s daily infection count will likely spiral in the coming weeks because “none of these numbers reflect the effect of the Fourth of July.”

“We are looking at an incubation period here of minimum days, up to two weeks, and usually there’s a lag of about a week from infection to being hospitalized — or a week to two weeks — and so we are probably not going to see the real impact on the health care system until next week and the week after,” Williamson told WBRC.

“There is major movement in the wrong direction, and really these movements have accelerated and that’s the most concerning part of this,” he added. “It’s the trajectory of the curve.”

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