By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A Democrat running for Congress in northern Missouri says response to the coronavirus pandemic is a top priority of hers, especially since testing positive for COVID-19.
“I was stricken with COVID in March on the campaign trail and I believe it was someone’s spit when they were talking to me at a meet and greet,” Gena Ross tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline.
Ross is an assistant professor of Business and American Government at Kansas City, Kansas Community College and an adjunct professor at Baker University at Baldwin City, Kansas. Ross won the Democratic nomination to take on veteran Republican incumbent Sam Graves in the November election.
COVID forced her off the campaign trail and into the hospital, twice, for a total of 9 days.
Ross says even after being cleared of the virus, she struggled.
“I couldn’t go out of the house,” Ross says. “I didn’t have enough strength to go up and down the stairs.”
Ross says her faith helped her through the traumatic experience.
“I just trusted God,” Ross says. “I prayed a whole lot. My mother had prayer warriors; people were praying for me all over. I have asthma. So, that made it even worse for me.”
Ross says her experience taught her how nasty COVID-19 is.
“Corona is wicked. It is demonic. It has no respect of person. It’s invisible. So, just protect yourself the best that you can.”
Ross says the money from the past aid package has run out with businesses still hurting and people still suffering in an economy which has yet to rebound. She says members of Congress don’t feel the economic pain that citizens do.
“Where’s the liberty for us? What’s in it for us?” Ross asks. “Our livelihood is at stake and people are arguing over if they’re going to give another check, if they’re not going to give a check, if they’re going to do this for us or not going to do, you’re going to give unemployment, you’re not going to do it. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Ross criticizes President Donald Trump, claiming he didn’t take the virus seriously enough, soon enough. She says a mask mandate early on could have saved lives. In fact, in campaign literature, Ross is much more direct, claiming that Trump knew the dangers of COVID, yet left American citizens to die.