Sen. Ron Johnson called on President Donald Trump to reopen segments of the US economy, saying in a USA Today op-ed article that “death is an unavoidable part of life.”

The Wisconsin senator mentioned last year’s “exceptionally bad” flu season and said Americans shouldn’t overreact.

Trump on Sunday extended the social-distancing guidelines that have shut down sectors of the American economy until April 30.

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Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin in a USA Today op-ed article published Sunday called for reopening parts of the American economy to avoid throwing it into a recession or depression, saying that “death is an unavoidable part of life.”

Though Johnson didn’t advocate fully starting up the economy, he said the crisis should be put into perspective.

“What more people are saying is that as we learn more about COVID-19, we should evaluate the total societal cost of this awful disease and try to put things into perspective,” Johnson said.

The Wisconsin senator drew a parallel between the tens of thousands of Americans who die by suicide and from drug overdoses each year, adding that “that level of individual despair has occurred in a strong economy.”

Johnson, who sits on the Commerce and Homeland Security committees, also made a comparison to last year’s “exceptionally bad” flu season and said Americans shouldn’t overreact.

“Every premature death is a tragedy, but death is an unavoidable part of life,” he said.

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Johnson outlined an idea to flip the federal guidelines for businesses on their head.

“Rather than announcing general shutdowns and drawing up lists of ‘essential’ business that can remain open, let’s draw up lists of ‘nonessential’ businesses that pose a risk for coronavirus spread,” he said.

The spread of the virus has shut down swaths of the American economy and put it on course for a recession, experts have said. That led President Donald Trump to on Friday sign a $2 trillion economic stimulus package to extend emergency federal aid to people and businesses alike.

Last week, Trump said he wanted to reopen the economy by Easter, on April 12. It would have been roughly three weeks after the administration put in place federal guidelines urging Americans to avoid traveling, eating out at restaurants, and gathering with more than 10 people.

But as of Monday, the US had recorded over 143,000 coronavirus cases, the most in the world. Infectious-disease experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have said that over 100,000 Americans could die, even with aggressive action to slow the virus’ spread.

On Sunday evening, Trump extended the social-distancing guidelines until April 30.

“Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won,” he said at a White House press conference, adding, “The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end.”

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