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Senator Ron Johnson: US 'overreacted' to coronavirus pandemic

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U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) last week told online news publication Axios the country had "overreacted" to the coronavirus pandemic.

"[I]n hindsight, I think we overreacted. We closed too much of our economy down, and I don't think we focused enough on what we needed to do: isolate the sick, quarantine them, protect the vulnerable," Sen. Johnson told Axios' Mike Allen during a virtual event.

Johnson argued that businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic should not be blamed for a downturn in performance.

"The first assumption we all made is that COVID is nobody's fault. It's basically an act of God. And so the businesses that are suffering ... it's not their fault," he told Allen.

According to Axios, Sen. Johnson argued the government needs to develop some sort of additional to plan to assist businesses.

"We really need to be taking a look at some program or programs ... to potentially restore capital to viable businesses that can reopen. But those same businesses need to have some kind of game plan," Johnson said. "We need to make sure they have the financial resources to restore the capital so they can reopen."

You can watch the full virtual event with Senator Johnson here.

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