Three weeks ago, Rhode Island Women for Freedom and Prosperity conducted a survey of its Members and Supporters about COVID-19 and Rhode Island’s response.  The fifth and last question of the survey was the option to offer a comment on the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.  Many people responded to this question and took the opportunity to articulate the serious impact that the lockdown has had on their life.

On June 5, the Governor of Rhode Island attended and addressed a rally of 10,000+ people without wearing a mask or socially distancing, thereby casting doubt, however inadvertently, on the need for the state’s onerous, highly impactful lockdown.  This set the stage for the release late last week of the responses to the last question of RIWFP’s survey.  Below are the first three.  All responses can be viewed here.

Member: We have turned into a monarchy overnight- the General Assembly should in session acting as a check and balance on the Governor.

Supporter:  I have lived through 6 pandemics in my lifetime, some of which were deadlier than COVID-19, yet we’ve never shut down our economy before. Mitigation of the virus should have included lockdown of nursing homes and government recommendations for the elderly and/or those with comorbid diseases to self-isolate. Not only have we destroyed our great economic engine, but more importantly, this lockdown has been a flagrant violation of our Constitutional rights.  NEVER AGAIN!

Member:  I have been a nurse specialist for over 30 years. Never in the history of medicine have we quarantined the healthy. I questioned it from the beginning but bought the inaccurate prediction that our health care system would be overwhelmed. Never have they been so wrong!  Some hospitals had to furlough staff and many were operating at only 30-40% capacity.  My physician colleagues were stating that they were pressured to write COVID 19 on death certificates. The handling of this pandemic from the beginning has been an abomination. Governor DeSantis of Florida handled this pandemic in an exemplary fashion. Check the Florida Department of Health website. It is excellent.