Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Monday that "there are more important things than living" during the coronavirus pandemic, pushing for a reopening opening of the state’s economy.
But Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner thinks that could upend progress that the state has made in fighting the virus.
"I don't think it's an either/or, and I don't think you have to provide those type of choices. I simply think you just have to listen to what the doctors are saying, take their advice. … You don't have to sacrifice one group in order to save another," Turner said.
Turner said he agrees that some hospitals can start performing elective surgeries, but reopening shouldn’t go further than that.
"We shut down early in this city. So the things that have been put in place are working. But you have to be very careful if you open up too soon. You will undo all the sacrifices people made."
Turner also stressed that this health crisis should not be made political.
"It has no respect of persons or parties or social or economic status," he said, adding that 70% of the deaths in the city have been people of color. Turner also reiterated that his city needs more widespread testing in order to gauge the reopening of the economy, referring to the response when Hurricane Harvey hit the area in 2017.
"You can look on the radar and you knew where the storm was, when it was going to hit, when it was going to exit. For us with this particular challenge, the radar happens to be testing. And it needs to be widespread and it needs to be robust," he said.