The COVID Situation In North Carolina is Not Good, But if the GOP Were in Charge, It Would Be a Disaster
As we enter the fifth month of the COVID-19 state of emergency in North Carolina, the COVID trends are all heading in the wrong direction. But the data is clear, if the state had followed the policies advocated by the NC GOP, our state would be in a health care crisis.
So far, Governor Roy Cooper’s policies have produced mixed results.
On the positive side, COVID cases have not spiraled out of control as they have in many states like Texas, Arizona and Florida. And North Carolina ranks 31st out of 50 states in number of deaths per capita — which is pretty good for a state our size with many heavily populated urban regions.
However, despite Cooper’s efforts, North Carolina has not flattened the curve. Case rates and hospitalizations continue to gradually climb and the rate of positive COVID tests has stubbornly hovered between 8–11 percent in recent weeks — double the targeted percentage. Hospital beds and ICU units are still available, but they are filling up.
However, had our state followed the policies advocated by NC GOP officials, we may well be experiencing skyrocketing caseloads and seeing our health care system becoming overwhelmed as is currently happening in states like Arizona, Florida, and Texas.
We can look back all the way to March and see that the GOP’s policies have been wrong at every turn.
When Cooper issued the stay-at-home order in late March, Lt. Governor Forest immediately criticized the decision to close bars and indoor seating at restaurants, and then encouraged the NC ReOpen protestors who wanted all restrictions on the economy lifted just weeks after they were put in place.
Then in May, when Cooper gradually began to restart commerce, the GOP-led state legislature claimed he was not moving quickly enough, and proceeded to pass a long series of bills to reopen bars, gyms, skating rinks, bowling alleys, wedding reception halls, amusement parks and arcades, and restaurants in minor league ballparks.
But remarkably, a week after Arizona and Texas shut down its bars and gyms due to a severe spike in cases, Republicans tried to override the vetoes and open the very facilities that other states were closing.
In addition, the NC GOP exhibited poor judgement in siding with President Trump’s demand that the Republican National Convention in Charlotte have “full attendance” of 19,000 delegates with “hotels and restaurants and bars at capacity.”
Cooper held firm on his insistence that the RNC would have to be held consistent with CDC guidelines, “with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings.”
Trump quickly capitulated, moving the convention to Jacksonville, which is experiencing a severe COVID outbreak and is now imposing restrictions on the convention similar to those Cooper proposed. Had state GOP officials supported Cooper’s position, perhaps the scaled down RNC would still be taking place in Charlotte.
Leading state Republicans have also tried to undermine Cooper’s ban on large scale events by supporting the racetracks that illegally opened and attracted thousands of spectators who crowded together without distancing or masks. When Cooper shut down ACE Speedway after it refused to comply with any public health guidelines, Lt. Governor Forest responded by contributing $1000 to ACE’s legal defense fund.
Finally, many Republicans have opposed Cooper’s mandate to wear face masks in public spaces where distancing is not possible. State representative Keith Kidwell responded to the mask-order by huffing: “I will not wear a mask, I don’t care what the governor says.” Senate leader Phil Berger also criticized the governor’s mandate.
Cooper’s greatest error was probably beginning to open the economy too quickly because the state had not experienced a significant decline in case numbers or hospitalizations.
But had we followed the NC GOP’s position, we would have opened up earlier and much more aggressively. Venues that have been identified as possible super-spreaders like bars and wedding reception halls would all be open today. There would be no mask-wearing mandate. And sporting arenas would be open to large crowds without social distancing.
As the time for kids to go back to school approaches, cases would have been out of control, as they are in Florida, with over 25,000 cases in the past two days alone.
We have a lot of work to do in North Carolina to get this virus under control. Unfortunately, the NC GOP has consistently been making this job harder since the pandemic began.
