![]() ![]() And the fact is, California's deaths per capita numbers, which, you know, officials have used throughout the pandemic to defend these very tough restrictions, are in many cases either the same or worse than many states that have been far less restrictive.Īnd some public health officials are saying, look we have to have an alternative to these blanket lockdowns. But California had this sustained, horrible surge of infections, the worst in the nation, for many weeks after the second lockdown was ordered. Today, the state's positivity rate is down dramatically. WESTERVELT: I mean, I think it's a mixed bag. And so Governor Newsom, you know, ordered this second shelter-in-place in early December that ran, you know, just till the end of January. In late fall, we saw this horrible surge that grew even worse after Thanksgiving. ![]() California went from, you know, being something of a national model to being something of a mess. The curve was bent, but the success really was short-lived. WESTERVELT: And Noel, at first it worked. We need to bend the curve in the state of California. This is a moment where we need some straight talk, and we need to tell people the truth. GAVIN NEWSOM: This is a moment we need to make tough decisions. Here's Governor Gavin Newsom back in March of last year. And California was really the first state to order, you know, statewide mandatory restrictions. It has had two strong lockdowns and regional restrictions in between, frankly. And, you know, this is the nation's most populous state. Bars and sports stadiums are most certainly not open. KING: Now, Eric, I don't know if you'd call it a lockdown philosophy as governor - to use Governor DeSantis' words, but California really has done it very differently. And several weeks later, as you know, we saw cases begin to rise again. When cases declined a bit in September, he lifted all restrictions on businesses, including bars and even sports stadiums. When it was clear that hospitals would not be overwhelmed, DeSantis started relaxing restrictions, and then Florida saw cases spike in July. The lockdown only lasted for several weeks in May and June. And you see what's going on.ĪLLEN: You know, like many states, Florida did go into a full lockdown back in the spring, and case number stayed low for some time. RON DESANTIS: You see a lot of these other states that are so intent on closing people down. And he's been critical of the Biden administration and other states that he says have lockdown philosophies. He's attacked the media for raising questions about his response, about his refusal to impose a statewide mask mandate, for example. He's made COVID something of a partisan issue, actually, here in Florida. Every district is required to offer in-person classes to students and parents who want them. And that's included the schools, as you say. He's been very aggressive in pushing reopening since way back in the spring. That's certainly the view of our governor, Ron DeSantis. KING: Greg Allen, I should say the official view in Florida seems to be, we did it right.ĪLLEN: Well, that's right. Greg Allen is in Miami, Fla., and Eric Westervelt is in the Bay Area in California. So which approach works? NPR correspondents in each state have been looking. But everything stayed open, including schools. At the same time, cases were spiking in Florida. In December, California had a spike, and Governor Gavin Newsom reimposed a stay-at-home order and a business lockdown order that was recently lifted. But why is that? We're going to look at two states that used different strategies. Fortunately, cases of the virus are declining. New federal data shows that in the first half of 2020, the life expectancy of Americans fell by a full year. ![]()
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