States with GOP governors had worse COVID-19 outcomes https://academictimes.com/states-with-gop-governors-had-worse-covid-19-outcomes/ U.S. states led by Republican governors had much higher rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths throughout 2020, according to a new analysis that quantifies how much politics impacted the effects of the pandemic. The sweeping longitudinal analysis, published March 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, gathered data from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on COVID-19 daily incident cases, test-taking rates, test positivity rates and death rates between March 15 and Dec. 15. "Last year, the pandemic became very politically polarized," Brian Neelon, the lead author of the study and professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, told The Academic Times. "We hypothesized, based on our data, that this had an impact on the policy decisions of states and subsequently on how they handled the virus and ultimately on [COVID-19] cases, death rates and so on." Though this analysis is being published a year into the pandemic, and at a time when the U.S. is nearing mass implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine, Neelon indicated that the findings continue to remain relevant and salient. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, "warned not to loosen public restrictions too much and too early," Neelon said. "And despite this warning, many states have started to lift mask mandates, for example. So our findings are still relevant because they suggest that policy decisions have health consequences and they should be guided by public health recommendations rather than political beliefs." The data sample they used came from two publicly available sources: COVID-19 daily incident cases and death rates came from the COVID Tracking Project, headed by the Atlantic Monthly Group; and COVID-19 testing and test positivity rates came from a database collected by the Department of Health and Human Services. The study used a Bayesian negative binomial model to analyze the data, which is a type of regression model in statistics. "In our case, the response variables were COVID-19 cases, deaths and tests, and the predictor variables are state governor political affiliation," Neelon said. In order to isolate this association, the study adjusted for confounding factors, including state population density, rurality, poverty, age, race, ethnicity, number of physicians and any known underlying health conditions. The study found that, while Democratic-led states had higher per capita rates of COVID-19 cases, positivity tests and deaths early in the pandemic, these trends started to reverse in late spring. For example, on April 15 — about a month into the pandemic — Democratic-led New York reported a total of 1,105 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, while Republican-led Florida reported a total of 95 cases per 100,000. Likewise, Democratic-led California reported 62 cases per 100,000, while Republican-led Texas reported 52 cases per 100,000. The study posits that these early trends could be explained by the fact that states led by Democratic governors were home to initial ports of entry for the virus in early 2020. Once May arrived, however, these trends started to reverse. On May 30, Republican-led states began to have higher test positivity rates, which Neelon said could occur, "if either the number of positive tests is large or if very few tests are performed." Then, on June 3, COVID-19 incidence rates were higher among Republican-led states. Neelon noted, though, that both these measures use "confirmed," or reported, cases because, "Unfortunately, it's hard to obtain accurate data on those who are asymptomatic and hence do not show up for testing; thus, in general, underreporting of cases is a problem, although more sophisticated epidemiologic models attempt to account for this." Republican-led states began to see higher rates of COVID-19 deaths on July 4, according to the analysis, with an estimated 1.56 deaths per million on average among states with Republican governors, compared to 1.33 deaths per million on average among states with Democratic governors. This means that the fatality rate was approximately 1.17 times higher on average in states with Republican governors than in states with Democratic governors, a difference that widened within one month. On Aug. 5, the average death rate among states with Republican governors was estimated to be 3.09 deaths per million, versus 1.72 deaths per million among states with Democratic governors. "Thus, on that date, death rates were about 1.8 times higher in states with Republican governors compared to states with Democratic governors," Neelon said. These trends continued through the rest of the year as the pandemic unfolded — all the way up to the end of the study period in mid-December. Neelon explained, though, that, "These values are estimates obtained from our model after controlling for factors such as state poverty level, population density, etc." Testing rates were the only metric that stayed approximately the same between Republican-led and Democratic-led states from mid-March to mid-September. It was not until the end of September that this changed, a finding that initially surprised the researchers. "Around September 30, states with Democratic governors started testing at a higher rate than Republican governors," Neelon told The Academic Times. "That itself isn't surprising, but we hypothesized that we would see this difference much earlier in the year. We think that Democratic governors were more aggressive with their testing — say during the summer — but we didn't see that difference until the end of September." Based on these findings, the study confirms that, "Gubernatorial party affiliation may drive policy decisions that impact COVID-19 infection and deaths across the U.S." "Our findings suggest that governor party affiliation may have contributed to a range of policy decisions like stay-at-home orders and mask mandates that collectively impacted the spread of the virus," Neelon said, adding that, "Health policy decisions like issuing mask mandates have downstream effects on increasing the number of cases or mitigating cases or deaths depending on the policy." This analysis also draws on recent studies that examined the differences in health policies issued by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the pandemic. "Our theory is supported by recent studies that found that Republican governors were less likely to implement stay-at-home orders, and if they did, those stay-at-home orders tended to be of shorter duration," Neelon said. Moreover, the researchers point to another study that identified Democratic political party affiliation of a governor as the most important predictor of state mandates to wear face masks. "The take-home message is that policy decisions have health consequences and these should be guided by public health recommendations, not political beliefs," Neelon said. The study "Associations Between Governor Political Affiliation and COVID-19 Cases, Deaths, and Testing in the U.S.," published March 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was co-authored by Brian Neelon, Fedelis Mutiso and John L. Pearce, Medical University of South Carolina; and Noel T. Mueller and Sara E. Benjamin-Neelon, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The numbers have been getting better in Texas since restrictions were lifted. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-covid-numbers-decrease-17-days-after-mask-other-restrictions-lifted
Worst outcomes? Like your Democrat idol governors Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom who had tens of thousands die in their states due to their ineptitude and incompetence handling Corona Virus? That is despite, President Donald Trump giving them all the resources they needed and asked for?
Vaccination is the key and many businesses in Texas still require their customers to wear face masks indoors although they get hate messages for doing such. The numbers will continue to get better as more people get vaccinated. It's the same in many states...their numbers getting better too. Have you seen the vaccination charts of each state in the United States ??? It's crazy...its on an unreal pace upwards. Soon, the only ones not vaccinated will be the anti-vaxxers, Qanon folks and those with medical conditions (e.g. allergies). Spring break numbers should start coming in about now for the next 1 - 2 weeks...that's a big test on its on. Hopefully, Texas and everybody else in North America can keep those infection numbers down and vaccinations up. wrbtrader
“These values are estimates obtained from our model after controlling for factors such as state poverty level, population density, etc." LOL ... Models... Last I checked, the states with highest death rates per capita are overwhelmingly Libtard.
Your understanding of cause and effect is deeply flawed. Lifting restrictions has no positive impact on Covid infections and often has negative impact 4-6 weeks down the road. I am amazed after a year running of this that some of you still don't get any of this. Essentially the vaccines are saving some of you from yourself and your beliefs. If they defeat the variants. Any strong strategy involving Covid involved controlling infection best you can, keeping as many people alive as you can, helping people in financial need due to Covid, and rolling out vaccines as fast as you can. Canada for example has been great at the first 3 and not very good at the vaccine roll out. We'll still end up with a significantly lower death toll then most of the US that botched up the first three points badly. However, this fourth point is problematic and the end of Trudeau's career if this gamble results in a wicked third wave. Just saw another story about Covid deniers which highlighted a middle aged guy in the US that believed Covid was exaggerated and not serious ( because of what he read in social media ) and held a family plus party with no safety precautions last year. Nobody was outwardly sick. 14 people at the party got Covid, he ended up in intensive care and survived, his mother and father in law died. He said he feels like he's like a drunk driver that killed a family in a wreck, and has sworn off social media. This is how I feel about irresponsible people like poster Jem on this site, passing off bs as fact on here. They may have dodged the bullet themselves with their bs but who knows how many they've killed off by helping encourage bad behavior online. It's selfish, irresponsible behavior. Fox News is guilty of the same and is being sued for their Dominion stories which were totally made up bs. A year in and we still read this bs on here. Come on now, are you really this stupid ?:
It's amazing that people do not understand the impact of vaccinations not just in their own states but in the their neighboring states too that minimizes cross contamination sort'uv speak. Just as amazing...they ignore the fact that the governor stated specifically its one of the reasons why restrictions was lifted...he stated such on the first few days of the restrictions being lifted...vaccinations are doing their job. People think its a high risk roll of the dice but when Biden double his vaccination numbers per day...Texas roll of the dice has been lucky so far. That's a very good thing and credit to the Biden / Harris administration for fixing the vaccination distribution problem that was chaos the day they took office... In fact, I can't remember the exact number Biden stated on Day 1 that he wanted vaccinated...many on the right criticized him because they thought it was not possible. Now that they're on pace of reaching that goal...they're now doubling it with a new goal by May 1st. If the spring break fiasco hasn't messed things up...the new vaccination goal should be reach...Texas and many other states should continue seeing a dramatic decline in infections, hospitalizations and deaths from Covid. Simply, declining Covid numbers has absolutely NOTHING to do with lifting restrictions. Those that lifted the restrictions...rolled the dice that vaccinations will save their ass when they attempt to get an early jump on their state economy just as that new stimulus package was being passed. Yet, if lifting the restrictions does begin to have a negative impact on Texas...will the governor blame the immigration from Mexico considering its a key bitch he has about them not being vaccinated, will he blame Biden / Harris administration for not getting more people vaccinated even after himself already stated the vaccinations is one the reason why the restrictions were being lifted...essentially blame others and not himself nor the behavior of the people of Texas ??? Luckily, Texas is not a key destination for spring break like Florida and others states @ https://fullsuitcase.com/usa-spring-break-destinations/ wrbtrader
Your understanding of English is deeply flawed. I posted some news relevant to the thread's topic -- not an opinion about the cause. Maybe more of the people than before are taking precautions and getting vaccinated? But this would mean Texans aren't as stupid as you think they are (not sure you can handle that notion).
Trump wanted to close the borders immediately but the Dimocrats wouldn't let him. Covid-19 is on the Dems. They are on the hook for all of the deaths.
As GOP Governors Drop Restrictions, Study Finds Their Policies Linked To Higher Covid-19 Cases And Deaths Topline Covid-19 cases and death rates in states with Republican governors have been markedly higher than those with Democratic leaders for much of the pandemic, a new study found, suggesting decisions like lifting stay-at-home orders and declining to issue mask mandates likely resulted in higher Covid-19 metrics—as GOP governors now go even further to rescind public health measures. Texas Governor Greg Abbott at a press conference in Austin on May 18, 2020. (Photo by Lynda M. ... [+] Key FactsThe study, which was published Tuesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Medical University of South Carolina, looked at Covid-19 metrics in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., from March 15 to December 15, including 26 states with Republican leaders and 25 with Democrats. The researchers found that while Covid-19 incidence and death rates were initially higher in Democratic-led states—some of the earliest epicenters of the pandemic were states like New York and New Jersey—Republican states soon overtook them and their rates remained higher through December. GOP states started having more cases per 100,000 people than Democratic states starting June 3, reaching a maximum of 1.77 times more cases on June 28. Republican-led states’ Covid-19 death rates overtook Democratic states on July 4, reaching up to 1.8 times as many deaths on August 5, and they had a higher test positivity rate starting May 30 that peaked at 1.7 times higher on June 23. The researchers attributed the higher rates to policy differences between the two parties, noting that Democratic states were more likely to quickly issue stay-at-home orders and mask mandates, while Republican states had retracted previous Covid-19 restrictions in many instances, causing cases to rise. Though there are GOP leaders who enacted stronger Covid-19 restrictions, such as Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, the study noted, “Republican governors were generally less likely to enact policies aligned with public health social distancing recommendations.” Crucial Quote “Gubernatorial party affiliation may drive policy decisions that impact Covid-19 infections and deaths across the U.S.,” the researchers concluded. “Future policy decisions should be guided by public health considerations rather than political ideology.” Key Background The study is in line with past research similarly showing a link between public health restrictions and lower Covid-19 metrics, particularly mask mandates. Its findings come as Republican governors across the country have taken dramatic steps to ease or entirely eliminate their state’s remaining Covid-19 restrictions, even over the objections of public health officials who warn doing so puts their states at risk of another surge. Oklahoma became the latest in a growing number of states to eliminate their restrictions and a mask order for government buildings Thursday, after governors in Texas, Mississippi and Wyoming lifted their states’ mask mandates. Arizona and West Virginia also lifted business restrictions last week but kept their mask measures in place. While only GOP-led states have lifted mask mandates thus far, the reopening trend has not been entirely limited to Republican governors, however: In addition to a number of states that have taken more incremental steps like raising capacity on indoor dining, Connecticut’s Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont also eliminated his state’s occupancy restrictions on a number of businesses, including restaurants and gyms, last week. Further Reading Associations Between Governor Political Affiliation and COVID-19 Cases, Deaths, and Testing in the U.S. (American Journal of Preventive Medicine) States with Republican governors had highest Covid incidence and death rates, study finds (NBC News) https://www.forbes.com/sites/alison...er-covid-19-cases-and-deaths/?sh=59513f4b692a ---------- wrbtrader