It has been said that those who truly value freedom might disagree with what you have to say but will fight to the death for your right to say it.
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, those who disagree with my “Stay at Home Order” and other steps I have taken to slow the spread of Covid-19 and save lives will gather in protest.
And while that is their right as individuals, remember that freedom is guaranteed—at least in part—by those who have taken on extraordinary responsibilities in this time of crisis. Nurses and paramedics, guardsmen and grocers, cashiers and physicians—they all are at work so you can stay home.
If you contract Covid-19 at a protest or a party without knowing it, you could spread the same virus that stole seven lives from their loved ones and halted our economy for the second time. By choosing to violate these directives in protest, you could prolong the restrictions we all hate so much.
The math doesn’t lie—56 percent of Guam’s new Covid cases came in the month of August alone. That’s 458 new cases. Our ICU beds are near capacity, and we have lost seven souls to this virus.
Some have said that Covid-19 isn’t as deadly as other viruses, and no one should overreact. This tells me they do not understand what we are facing.
While Covid-19 has proven deadly, its real impact is in making large numbers of people just sick enough to need hospital care in a short period of time—resulting in no available beds for patients who suffer from heart attacks, strokes, kidney failures, or diabetic shock. Put simply, we become so inundated with Covid-19 patients we can treat nothing else.
That is why slowing the rate of Covid-19 transmission is a life or death situation for our people and our economy. Who will shop in our stores or eat in our food courts if Covid-19 infections are greater each day?
I issued a stay-at-home order because it is the quickest, most effective way experts know to slow the spread of this virus and save lives. Without that, our economy will be just as sick as our people.
I understand that some of you, despite knowing all this, will place your desire to protest above all else, and you will gather anyway. I ask that you do it safely. And know that I will use every tool available to me so that no one has to die for your right to do it.
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