Democratic governors are largely leading the fight against COVID-19 -- while Republicans fall behind

[TomCADem]

There are three factors that seem to drive the casualty rates among states for COVID-19: (1) how early did infections start; (2) how dense and populous is the State; and (3) the speed of the State in responding to the first reports of infection.

https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america

While the larger States tend to be hit hard, since they tend to have both early reports of infection, plus density, the third factor is pivotal in explaining why California is currently expect to have less deaths than states like Georgia, Texas and Florida, which are less populous than California and they had more time to respond from the first reports of infection. In each case, Republican governors delayed their response in an effort to stay consistent with Trump's own delayed response.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/democratic-governors-are-largely-leading-the-fight-against-covid-19-while-republicans-fall-behind/

While the coronavirus pandemic is a national and international concern, state and local officials find themselves on the front lines of the public health battle.

Governors, in particular, have been in the spotlight in recent weeks. New York’s Andrew Cuomo has been praised by news outlets for his leadership at the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, while others have been criticized for slow responses.

* * *
But the coronavirus has put some governors in an ideologically compromising position. Republicans, who traditionally advocated for states’ rights, now find themselves deferring to the federal government.

Meanwhile, Democrats are leading the nation on pandemic responses and reaping the political rewards. They are also pushing for more federal coordination efforts, especially in obtaining high-demand medical supplies.

[rurallib]

1. Iowa and Minnesota have quite a contrast - Iowa Republican governor

and our plan seems to be to do little.

Up in Minnesota a state twice our size is testing more, has fewer cases and seems to be getting some control of the situation.

[Windy City Charlie]

2. I tell ya

Not there's anything good at all about this virus, but if something good has come out of the virus, it has shown the ones who can genuinely lead, and the ones who don't have a clue. It goes back to the adage, what separate the doers from the rest is not how they handle things when things go right, but when they go wrong.

[jimfields33]

3. Michigan, New York and New Jersey are trying hard

They also have majority of the deaths. A tough job for those Governors. They are in charge thankfully.

[TomCADem]

6. NY and NJ Were The Among The First To Get Hit...

...and they are also densely populated, so they have two strikes against them. In California, there were complaints that San Francisco overreacted when it instituted a stay at home order so early, but it turned out to be a literal life saver.

Of course, Florida and Texas are the real head scratchers. They have a lot of lead time to see what is going on, but have been slow to act.

[jimfields33]

7. We keep waiting for something in Florida but nothing does

I know this is controversial but I swear we had it in November and December. So many were down hard. We even had a death in my neighborhood. They called it lung damage or something. Again anecdotal but it seems odd that we are spared now. And yes it could still come but our two weeks is fast approaching.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

4. I think poverty is another important factor in addition to your three.

Across the globe, the most dangerous conditions seem to be a combination of poverty and high proximity in housing, and of course poor health care systems (which seems to accompany poverty).

But key to your OP title is this: Republicans cannot govern. You cannot govern that which you're trying to destroy.

[localroger]

5. We are fortunate to have John Bel Edwards at the helm in Louisiana

Despite being an otherwise blood-red state. There was some delay because it was such a drastic thing to contemplate shutting down our tourist industry at the start of the incredibly popular and lucrative Spring festival season, but Edwards did it pretty quickly despite much outrage, and now it's clear that was the correct decision. Our numbers are starting to flatten just as all those places that took it for granted are watching it take off like a skyrocket.