The pandemic pimps keep making dire predictions about how COVID is about to explode in Florida, but thanks to the policies of Gov Ron DeSantis, they are imploding instead. DeSantis has become the enemy and not just because he opposes draconian measures like lockdowns and mandatory vaccines, but because he has been so successful and made Florida equally successful in the process. Florida’s economy is outperforming blue states by leaps and bounds.
And it’s not just Florida, Texas, and South Dakota but entire countries that have taken the same router. The two most prominent are Sweden and Japan. Sweden ended their lockdown early and Japan never locked down for a minute. Their COVID numbers are much lower than the averages in the countries with severe lockdowns. The same holds true in the United States.
In Florida, there are 12 new cases per 100,000 in population. In the mega lockdown state of New York, the number is more than double that of Florida at 25 per 100,000 in population. Washington state is at 31.
Florida’s COVID-19 response has been described as reckless, dangerous, and anti-science.
Its Republican governor weathered months of scorn for loosening pandemic restrictions ahead of other state leaders. Its case counts, when on the rise, are often cited by critics as evidence that the entire Republican approach to managing the virus has failed.
But drops in Florida’s case counts invite a fraction of the attention.
New infections per 100,000 residents dropped to 12 over the past week, according to the New York Times coronavirus tracker. Over the past 14 days, cases dropped by 48%.
Other states with far more expansive pandemic restrictions are seeing COVID-19 continue to spread at faster rates than Florida.
In New York, for example, the rate of new cases is more than double that of Florida’s at 25 per 100,000 residents over the past week.
In Washington state, the rate of new infections per 100,000 residents was at 31 during the past week.
Another contrast is the difference in the economies in the lockdown states and the free states. South Dakota has an unusually low unemployment rate and both Florida and Texas have economies that are even better than they were pre-pandemic. Nothing succeeds like success
