Gov. Newsom Puts Politics Over Data in California Shutdown

[Right_in_Virginia]

Gov. Newsom Puts Politics Over Data in California Shutdown
Real Clear Politics, May 2, 2020, Will O'Neill

Los Angeles County, which has implemented the most draconian beach closures in the country, has in excess of 1,000 coronavirus deaths. Orange County, which has consistently taken a less restrictive approach, has had 45 deaths going into this weekend. Orange County’s population of 3.3 million is larger than 22 states. If it were a state, Orange County’s death rate of 0.0014% would be the 49th lowest in the country. The primary hospital in Newport Beach has a 475-beds capacity and has never treated more than 25 people for coronavirus issues at any given time. The leaders of that hospital system believe that the curve has flattened, and that Orange County needs to responsibly reopen.

Against this backdrop of public health – and in favor of placing data and reality over politics and hysteria – the Newport Beach City Council voted this week to keep its beaches open. Data from across the country demonstrated that open beaches do not lead to a spike in cases of COVID-19. Los Angeles County closed their beaches over a month ago and data now shows that every single Los Angeles County beach community has a higher per capita infection rate than Orange County’s open beach communities. Brevard County, Florida with a population of 600,000 has largely kept their beaches open throughout the crisis. That county has seen 8 deaths and 47 hospitalizations in total. Duval County, Florida, with a population of nearly 1 million, opened its beaches nearly two weeks ago and has seen no ascertainable spike. On April 26, it had four new cases. In other words, sunlight, heat, and wide-open, outdoor spaces are not conducive to the spread of COVID-19.

This is especially true if beachgoers practice social distancing. In our decision to open the beaches, we planned to add more signs reminding beachgoers to use common sense. We also planned to deploy additional lifeguards and police officers to ensure that beachgoers continued to use the beach responsibly. It was a good compromise based upon the actual conditions on the ground.

However, 428 miles away in Sacramento and without consulting with a single Newport Beach official, Gov. Gavin Newsom decided to substitute his will for our judgment, shutting down the entire 42 miles of Orange County coastline, including Newport’s. He did this in part based upon widely disseminated and wildly misleading media photographs taken to give the false impression that Newport’s beaches were packed with people that were declining to use distancing. Local fire and police authorities reviewed this media depiction and agreed that it was misleading. What they “observed from land and by air was the vast majority of beach goers practicing social distancing.”


More:  https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/05/02/gov_newsom_puts_politics_over_data_in_california_shutdown_143100.html

[PeteS in CA]

California's per-million death rate is among the lowest in the US. IMO, the SiP order should differentiate between rural counties and populous counties, and between large cities within populous counties and rural areas of those counties. But Goobernor Nuisance is too power-hungry to give flexibility to the county- and city-level people who know their areas better than Sacto bureaucrats.