Anyone care to explain why perennially locked down California ranks so highly for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 cases or deaths? Situation is much worse than last I looked a few weeks ago. According to data collated by John Hopkins University, Los Angeles County still tops the list for confirmed cases (more than 1.2 million) and deaths (just over 23,000). But four other Cali counties also are in the Top 10 for cases: Riverside (sixth); San Bernardino (eighth); San Diego (ninth); and Orange (tenth). That’s right. Half. Only one county from Florida: Miami-Dade (fourth).
More disturbing, since I checked on March 11, 2021, California’s case fatality rate rose to 1.61 percent, which is comparable to Florida’s 1.63 percent—and the Sunshine State is largely open; Spring Break is underway, too. Four California counties are among the top 11 for deaths: Los Angeles (first); Orange (ninth); San Bernardino (tenth); and Riverside (eleventh). Miami-Dade is seventh.
Granted, California’s population is considerably higher than Florida’s. But gauging risk isn’t hard, when assessing who is most likely to die. According to the CDC Data Tracker, people 65 years or older account for 80.9 percent of U.S. COVID-19 deaths. Sixteen percent of Miami-Dade’s population falls into that age bracket; 13 percent for Los Angeles. The first county is wide open; the other imposes restrictions on citizens and businesses. According to John Hopkins, LA County’s CFR is 1.9 percent. Miami-Dade: 1.31 percent.
I like to compare California to Florida because the first is my place of residence and one of my sisters lives in the other. Then there are the governors’ drastically different approaches to combating the disease: Cali’s Gavin Newsom (Democrat) locks down, while counterpart Ron DeSantis (Republican) opens up.
I used iPhone XS to capture the Featured Image on Feb. 21, 2021. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/666 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 11:37 a.m. PST.