The Lockdown Blueprint
New York knows the feeling of lives put on hold while the government decides what we can and cannot do. We lived through the fear, the empty streets, and the businesses that never opened again. Now, we have to look at the specific playbook Dr. Abdul el Sayed wrote when he was a pandemic pundit (six years ago). This document outlines a vision of how he would run things if he held the power.
What The Reporting Shows
El Sayed took a very strict approach to public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic six years ago. He supported intense statewide lockdowns and keeping schools shut down, even though he was not a state or local official at the time. He frequently appeared in media outlets and authored opinion columns providing guidance on managing the disease outbreak.
His most extreme suggestions came in an opinion piece for The Guardian, just one week after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer implemented state-wide lockdowns. Within that article, el Sayed contended that stopping transmission would require bold action, such as eliminating congregation in restaurants, bars and clubs, as well as potentially locking down communities with major outbreaks.
He didn’t stop at closing businesses. He wrote that it means mandating work from home for non-essential personnel and pushed for a massive expansion of state power. He suggested contemplating a parallel Covid-19-specific health system under the control of the national guard to vastly increase our health system’s capacity. On top of that, he insisted Congress should guarantee healthcare coverage for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, while establishing a universal paid sick leave policy that covers all workers. These proposals would have fundamentally reshaped the relationship between the state and its citizens.
The Cost of “Bold Action”
El Sayed wanted to hand the National Guard control of our hospitals. That is a military takeover of civil life, not a standard public health plan. Although he recognized these extensive measures would cause ripple effects throughout the economy, he remained indifferent. Instead of moderating his approach to save small businesses, he advised using the emergency to push for Medicare for All and nationalized health insurance.
We saw what happened when governors tried to mimic this kind of thinking. Main Street got crushed while the people who could work from home barely noticed. El Sayed’s plan treats the economy like a secondary concern to a theoretical virus model. For a New Yorker who owns a restaurant or runs a shop, this isn’t theory; it’s an eviction notice. He wanted to lock down communities with major outbreaks, but he never explained how a family in a small apartment is supposed to survive when the government shuts their door.
The fact that he pushed for a parallel health system under the National Guard is terrifying. It shows a deep distrust of our actual doctors and hospitals. He wanted to nationalize our response, turning a health crisis into a political opportunity to expand government control. That is not leadership; that is overreach wrapped in a medical degree.
El Sayed won his state’s Democratic primary on Aug. 4, proving he has a base that likes this hardline approach. But for New Yorkers, the question is whether we want a leader who sees the economy as something to be sacrificed for ideology. We need to know if he plans to bring this National Guard health system to the Empire State if he ever gets the chance. The next step for him is a general election, where voters will decide if his strict lockdown history is a selling point or a warning sign.
This is opinion and commentary from the RapForMayor team.
