By Richard E. Besser, USA Today, June 30, 2020
California and Texas show the folly of viewing this pandemic through a political lens.
The two most populous states are seeing record numbers of COVID-19 infections amid other concerning trend lines. The Golden State was hit early on by this pandemic and had taken a cautious, calibrated approach to reopening, while the Lone Star State was one of the first to reopen and until this past week had greeted the virus with Texas swagger. Both are now recoiling as ever more disturbing data pours in, and the coronavirus shows how little it cares about our politics.
Yet as the nation enters the summer months amid various phases of reopening, we are continuing to witness the unhealthy collision of politics and public health. Public health leaders have been harassed and threatened, as many politicians seem to rationalize reopening decisions in alignment with the cabin fever of their constituencies. But the only effective and believable arbiter of truth — and critically, the vehicle for managing the public health emergency fairly and equitably — is data.
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