California, Florida, show similar COVID trends despite different policies

Despite facing the COVID-19 pandemic in very different ways, California and Florida experienced similar trends, with the number of cases and the death rate decreasing in recent weeks.

California has emerged as one of the strictest states in the country, with Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, shutting down businesses and schools. His government said it is implementing these measures based on the municipalities’ ICU capacity.

Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has taken a totally different approach. Although he took similar measures to Newsom at the start of the pandemic, he ended up lifting state restrictions on the economy and banning law enforcement from fining people.

The latest data from Johns Hopkins University show that California has reported nearly 3.5 million cases of COVID-19 in total, while Florida has reported more than 1.82 million.

Florida’s population is just over half that of California. But even with that considered, both states reported similar percentages of cases and deaths compared to the general population.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in California as a percentage of the population is about 8.8%, while in Florida it is about 8.3%. Of all the people in California who received COVID-19, about 1.35% died, while in Florida, about 1.57%, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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In the past seven days, Florida recorded 322 cases and 7.4 deaths per million people, while California recorded 231 cases and 10.5 deaths per million people. In terms of hospitalizations, Florida has 218 per million people, while California has 244.

DeSantis was criticized for what many consider his negligent approach to the pandemic. Last week, the Republican governor attacked the media by suggesting a bias in pandemic coverage, even as concerns revolve around more contagious strains of COVID-19 potentially spreading at Super Bowl meetings.

When a journalist asked DeSantis about the spread of a more contagious variant of the virus in the context of super-spreading events after the Super Bowl, the governor interpreted this as an unwarranted blow to the home team.

The public health consequences of these celebrations will only be known for weeks, said Dr. Jay Wolfson, professor of public health and associate dean at the University of South Florida medical school.

Although hospitalizations for the virus have been on a downward trend for nearly a month – dropping from peaks above 7,600 to less than 5,000, according to Wednesday’s state census – concerns remain about any additional victims.

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There are now 343 known cases of the UK variant in the Sunshine State – more than double what was detected in California. State health officials said the high number is also an indication of the state’s most robust testing program for the new variants.

In California, Newsom faces the prospect of an electoral revocation, sparked by outrage over the economic and social impact of his response to the pandemic. Over the weekend, the organizers of the recall campaign said they collected more than 1.5 million signatures needed to qualify for a vote. The committees behind the recall hope to meet well in excess of the 1.5 million needed to ensure it qualifies before the March 17 deadline.

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Research shows that Newsom’s popularity has declined as residents back away from coronavirus rules that close schools and businesses. The governor also resisted a public reaction by dining out with friends and lobbyists at a restaurant in the San Francisco Bay area last fall, while telling residents to stay home. And, more recently, a growing fraud scandal at the state unemployment agency has taken its lead during the pandemic under even more scrutiny.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.