Despite tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in many different ways, California and Florida have experienced similar trends with the number of cases and the death rate declining over the past few weeks.
California has emerged as one of the toughest states in the country, with Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, running businesses and schools. His administration said these measures are based on the ICU capacity of the provinces.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has taken a very different approach. Although he took similar measures to Newsom early in the pandemic, he eventually lifted restrictions on the entire economy and banned law enforcement because he fined people.
According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, California in total reported nearly 3.5 million COVID-19 cases, while Florida reported more than 1.82 million.
FILE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions at a news conference on the extensive implementation of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine at Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital in Longwood, Fla.
(Orlando Sentinel via AP)
The population of Florida is slightly more than half the population of California. But even when considered, both states reported similar percentages of cases and deaths compared to the overall population.
California’s total COVID-19 cases as a percentage of the population is about 8.8%, while Florida’s about 8.3%. Of the people in California who received COVID-19, about 1.35% died, while in Florida it is about 1.57%, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Over the past seven days, Florida has recorded 322 cases and 7.4 deaths per million people, while California has 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 has picked up heat for what many see as its lax approach to the pandemic. Last week, the Republican governor knocked him out on the news media when he proposed a bias in the coverage of the pandemic, even though there are concerns about more infectious strains COVID-19 spreading at Super Bowl events.
When a journalist asked DeSantis about the spread of a more contagious variant of the virus in the context of super-distribution events following the Super Bowl, the governor considered it an unfair hit against the home side.
FILE: Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, outlines his proposal for state budget for 2021-2022 during a news conference in Sacramento, California.
(AP)
The consequences for public health at the festive public gatherings will not be known for weeks, said dr. Jay Wolfson, a professor of public health and associate dean of the College of Medicine at the University of South Florida, said.
While hospitalizations due to the virus have been down for almost a month – according to the state census on Wednesday, there are still concerns about any victims.
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There are now 343 known cases of the British variant in the Sunshine State – more than twice as many as were detected in California. State health officials said the high number is also an indication of the state’s more robust testing program for the new variants.
In California, Newsom faces the prospect of a by-election, outraged at the economic and social impact of its response to the pandemic. The organizers of the recall campaign said at the weekend that they had collected more than 1.5 million signatures needed to qualify for a vote. Committees behind the recall hope they will meet beyond the required 1.5 million to ensure it qualifies before the March 17 deadline.
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Polls show that Newsom’s popularity has waned as residents shy away from protracted coronavirus rules that have shut down schools and businesses. The governor also endured a public setback to dine with friends and lobbyists at a restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area, while asking residents to stay home. And more recently, an ever-increasing fraud scandal at the state unemployment agency, its leadership during the pandemic is being investigated even more closely.
Associated Press contributed to this report.