How Have the Reopening of States Across the Country Led to a Spike in COVID-19 Cases?
Rohin Buch
Health Head
Ever since the first states began to reopen earlier in May after having let their stay-at-home orders lapse or after having supposedly observed their state’s number of cases and then carefully reopened, there has been one question on everyone’s mind: When will the “second wave” come? In other words, when will they realize that this reopening was too early and that they should have waited longer?
This question’s answer is demonstrated in the cases of three states who have reopened fairly rapidly: Texas, Alabama, and North Dakota. After Texas Governor Greg Abbott allowed his stay-at-home order to lapse on April 30, people around the country were quick to criticize this choice; this made Texas, the second-largest state, have one of the most short-lived stay-at-home orders in the whole country. This came back to bite the governor when on Saturday, May 16, approximately two weeks after order had been lifted, Texas recorded the highest number of new cases of COVID-19 in a single day: a staggering 1,801 diagnoses.
In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey let his state’s stay-at-home order expire on April 30 as well, citing the supposed decrease in the number of cases. He also promised to transition to what he called a “safer at home” model. This led to a massive spike or resurgence in the number of COVID-19 cases, with the case count in the state doubling from May 1 to May 18. Even though hospitals in and around the state, but especially in Montgomery, the state capital, cited an increase in testing availability, it was soon discovered that hospitals were reaching capacity as area hospitals’ patient counts had doubled as well.
North Dakota is a different case from both Texas and Alabama given that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum never imposed a stay-at-home order. Instead, he advised North Dakotans to stay at home and some businesses did decide to close to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. As a result, Burgum was not as pressed to reopen the businesses in his state as most of them had not been officially closed. Those that had been closed, however, were quickly reopened following a gubernatorial address on May 1. Not surprisingly, North Dakota’s case count also surged once these few businesses which had closed were allowed to reopen. On May 16, North Dakotan health officials recorded the second-highest number of cases in a single day to date, 86. Even though this number is relatively small, it is important to note that North Dakota is a rural state with a population of only about 762,000. Besides this, it is important to mention that 68% of the cases recorded in the state are from its most populous county (Cass County), however, only 22% of the state’s testing is conducted in Cass County, leading to a major discrepancy in the case count.
One majorly important fact to note with regards to these three states is that they all have Republican governors. While this may not seem important due to the fact that the coronavirus isn’t a political issue, it is vital to note the stance of the Republican Party on state lockdowns. Since the beginning of the pandemic in the US, the priority of the Party and its highest-ranking “leader,” President Trump, has been to ensure that state’s economies are not hit hard by this pandemic and that they can be revived, without much regard for the detrimental effects on the people of the US. This Republican agenda can be seen at work in many other states, such as Alaska and Florida. In Alaska, Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy let his state’s stay-at-home order expire on April 24, with all business returning to full, pre-pandemic capacity on May 22. In Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis let his state’s order lapse on May 4, with Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the counties who remained locked down while the rest of the state did not, reopening on May 18.
All in all, it is important to recognize that the economic reopening of these states might not be the only factor leading to a spike in the number of cases, but rather it might be due to the fact that more and more testing is available by the day. However, this should not discredit the fact that the reopening of the states has definitely been one of the factors contributing to what the US is now calling its “second wave.”
Works Cited
Elassar, Alaa. “This Is Where All 50 States Stand on Reopening.” CNN, Cable News Network, 26 Apr. 2020, www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/us/states-reopen-coronavirus-trnd/.
Mervosh, Sarah, et al. “See How All 50 States Are Reopening.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Apr. 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/states-reopen-map-coronavirus.html.
Sternlicht, Alexandra. “New Cases Spike In Reopened States, Though Some Say That's Due To Increased Testing.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 May 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/05/17/new-cases-spike-in-reopened-states-though-some-say-its-due-to-increased-testing/#6adeb0af6bc9.
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