Reopening the economy prematurely has dire consequences for states
By NCL Health Policy intern Talia Zitner
The past month has seen a serious surge in reported coronavirus cases in the United States. It seems the virus is going to be with us for a while. Of states where COVID is spiking, the majority are in the South, many of which had ambitious reopening plans that are now being reconsidered.
Three of these states—Texas, Florida, and Arizona—have current surges. All three pushed to reopen their economies early in an attempt to “return to normal.” The current deluge in cases that resulted was due to a lack of continuing stay-at-home order and a failure to require masks.
Texas officially started Phase 1 of its reopening plan on May 1, but—as of June 26—had to retract much of the opening that it had started. In total, Texas was only able to reopen the state for 55 days. As of July 27, Texas has seen an average of 8,089 new cases of the coronavirus over a seven-day period. Compared to cases in April, when there were 814, this is astounding. Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has since ordered everyone to start wearing face masks and has limited the size of public gatherings.
It does not appear that Texas will shut down again, however. As the governor said, “we need to refocus on slowing the spread, but this time we want to do it without closing down Texas again.” Although it is an issue of public health, the issuance of a statewide masking policy and the staggered re-opening of the economy has become a matter of contention across party lines. Some residents find the Governor’s actions to be inadequate, and others feel as if the newly implemented precautions impede their personal liberties.
Florida and Arizona are not faring much better. As of April, Florida had 1,027 cases reported. In July, it was 6,563. Florida started its reopening plan on May 4 and entered into Phase 2 on June 5. Clearly, cases have surged.
Earlier this week, Florida reported 8,892 new COVID-19 cases. Like Texas, there seems to be a mixed reaction among Florida representatives to slow the spread of the virus. Senator Rick Scott (R) has been vocal about his intentions for Florida, and it appears the state will not roll back any of its reopening course. As Senator Scott put it a couple of months ago, “wearing a mask is a choice you get to make.”
Like Texas and Florida, Arizona is hurting badly, with only 115 in April surging to 4,753 cases in July. Arizona’s stay-at-home order lasted until May 15, and was replaced by the new Stay Healthy, Return Smarter, Return Stronger Executive Order, on May 16. When Arizona first reopened, Governor Doug Ducey did not require residents to wear face masks, but as the case numbers increased, he allowed local governments to set their own masking policies. As of July 1, officials said that Arizona saw the highest rate of new cases in the entire country.
Many public officials are starting to realize opening too soon was foolhardy and has spread the virus. New revelations by scientists show the virus can actually be airborne, urging those to take indoor transmission more seriously. The virus is also proving to be more of a blood vessel disease than solely a respiratory one, which may lead to long-term impacts that doctors are still learning about.
There’s one takeaway here: following the example of states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona is not recommended. The more seriously states take this crisis the better, and the sooner the entire country will be able to move towards a newer, safer “normal”.
Talia is a Washington, DC native and a rising sophomore at Wesleyan University, where she is studying English. Beyond health policy, Talia’s interests are in journalism, law, and social justice.
