Kelly shares his 'View' on COVID-19 recovery
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, discussed his view on reopening Pennsylvania businesses in an appearance on ABC’s “The View” Tuesday morning.
Kelly, who was diagnosed with the viral infection in March, lost 30 pounds as a result of the illness, even though he never had any respiratory symptoms.
“I thought, at first, I had some strain of the flu,” he said. “I didn’t recognize it as something I haven’t had before.”
Despite his month-long battle with the illness, however, the Butler representative said he supports efforts to reopen Pennsylvania businesses. Kelly’s district spans five counties between Butler and Erie.
Kelly spoke at length about signing on as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine that aims to overturn the state’s business closure orders.
“The governors, they have great executive powers, and I respect that,” Kelly said. “But at what point do we trust the American people to be smart and do the right things for the right reasons?”
He referred to the continued shutdown mandates as “nanny state” politics.
“Small businesses, they adjust all the time to conditions that change,” Kelly said. “There’s no one-size-fits-all. But if regulations are put in place, we can work within those regulations.”
He considers Wolf’s “one-size-fits-all” solution for reopening the commonwealth unfair to small business owners and residents in counties that haven’t been as hit hard by the virus as others. When the first counties moved to Wolf’s “yellow” phase — namely those in northwest Pennsylvania — Butler was the only county in his district to remain in the red.
That, he said, was a red flag and part of the impetus for joining the lawsuit.
“My concern was we had a governor who said ‘no, this is the way it’s going to take place,’” he said.
Kelly’s battle with COVID-19 is part of what drove him to battle to reopen the state.
Candid about his own battle with the virus, Kelly said he was sleeping with two blankets and not eating, as he couldn’t taste food. He added that he had difficulty falling asleep, but would sleep for up to 16 hours when he could.
His doctor prescribed him hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug touted and taken by President Donald Trump as a panacea against the virus.
“In my case, I can’t say definitively that that’s what cured me, but I can say definitively that I took it,” he said.
He sees his pushing forward with recovering from COVID-19 as indicative of the American work ethic, something he sees as continuing after the orders lift.
“Once you get back on your feet, I think it’s just who we are as a people — we want to get back to work, we want to go outside, we want to see people,” Kelly said.
