Colorado, Michigan To Open Up, But Media Outrage Focuses on Georgia Bowling Alleys

At the end of the day, April 26, offices can re-open, with “strict precautions.” Retail can begin to re-open, childcare facilities can open, hair salons, tattoo parlors, and personal trainers (like in gyms) can open. In Colorado.

In Michigan, where Czar Gov. Gretchen Whitmer drew protests for refusing to allow large stores to sell seeds, paint and carpet, the draconian restrictions are set to end May 1. “I am hopeful that come May 1 we will make some steps forward,” Whitmer said. “And as we proceed, if that goes well and we continue to see progress, that we then go into a second phase.” 

In Georgia, schools remain closed until the end of the year, local authorities and mayors have wide latitude to limit social activities, and coastal beaches have been open for two weeks, along with state parks, for activities as long as social distancing is practiced. Yet Gov. Brian Kemp is being roasted by many in the media for doing exactly what Gov. Jared Polis is doing in Colorado and Gov. Whitmer is planning for Michigan.

Vanity Fair’s Bess Levin smeared Kemp with this headline: “Front-Runner for Country’s Dumbest Governor to Reopen Essential Bowling Alleys, Nail Salons Friday.” The article itself doesn’t mention Colorado or Michigan doing similar (or the same) things.

Joe Scarborough tweeted that tattoo parlors are “a Petri dish for a pandemic’s spread.” Yet I don’t see him condemning Polis for doing the exact same thing.

According to the IMHE model, which is largely cited and relied upon by state and federal experts, Colorado passed its peak in daily deaths 9 days ago. The state is projected to have 715 deaths by August 4th. Georgia passed its peak resource usage on April 15, 6 days ago, though the estimates have changed recently due to some statistical anomolies that skewed the model. Originally, Georgia was to have a second spike, but that’s now no longer projected, and 1369 deaths are projected through August 4th.

Given the same model, and looking at the same trends, Colorado and Georgia are taking similar measures. Yet the media is outraged that Kemp is listening to his experts but not that Polis and Whitmer are listening to theirs.

It seems the bar is being selectively raised here.

The original reason for all our countermeasures was to keep COVID-19 from spiking to the point where our health care resources were completely overwhelmed and unable to deal with the caseload. We have done that. The case load has stabilized and new cases are declining, while testing activity is building up. Nationwide, we have plenty of hospital beds, and additional hospital space is now available.

In Atlanta, parts of the Georgia World Congress Center’s cavernous space has been transformed into a hospital, with 200 beds available and is now treating COVID-19 cases. A bigger problem Gov. Kemp is facing, is now the number of unemployed, who no longer have health insurance.

Testing numbers in Georgia should be better, the governor acknowledged, calling the status quo “unacceptable.” Testing is key, but hospital capacity is available. Kemp said Monday, “as of today, we have 2,617 emergency room beds, 929 critical care beds, and nearly 6,000 general inpatient beds available statewide.’’

“Reports of emergency room visits for flu-like illnesses are declining, documented COVID-19 cases have flattened and appear to be declining, and we have seen declining emergency room visits in general,’’ he told reporters. “By expanding our hospital bed capacity — including the temporary facility at the Georgia World Congress Center [in Atlanta] — we have the ability to treat patients without crisis care in hospital settings.’’

All eyes on Georgia as Kemp plans reopening of businesses in state, Georgia Health News, April 20, 2020

Those words don’t sound like the ravings of a maniac or “the country’s dumbest governor” trying to open “a Petri dish” to create more COVID-19 hotspots. They sound like a governor who deeply cares about his state’s citizens and getting them back on their feet.

The reason for the lockdowns was not to completely eliminate deaths from COVID-19. That’s impossible now that the virus is here in America. Once it reached our shores, it was going to kill people. Limiting the rate of those deaths isn’t simply keeping people from getting infected–although yes that’s a noble goal. The point of draconian lockdowns, school closings, and economic shutdown is to limit the number of infections so that those who are infected can receive effective treatment, without crowding out those who legitimately have other medical needs.

This has been achieved in the “hammer” phase of dealing with the pandemic, and now we can begin the “dance” phase of managing caseloads, aggressive testing, isolation and tracing.

But for some states, the bar has been raised to complete lockdown until nobody else dies. Frankly, that’s an impossible bar. But only Georgia is being held to it. I don’t think we have to wonder too much why that might be.