TX – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott faced fierce scrutiny for reversing the Lone Star State’s mask mandate on March 10 and completely reopening its economy, with President Biden calling the move “neanderthal thinking”.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also faced criticism for “endangering” his state’s most vulnerable residents when he permitted businesses to reopen in September without enforcing mask-wearing.
However, each of the two Republican-led states has managed to keep case positivity rates down while also kick-starting their economic recoveries.
Meanwhile, Democrat-fronted Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan – who are all still bound to ongoing coronavirus restrictions – have led the daily increases in Covid-19 cases, data shows.
Between March 29 and April 4, the three blue states along with New Jersey accounted for 44 percent of all new infections – or around 197,500 of the 452,000 cases reported nationwide during that time.
Data from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) shows that Michigan has become the nation’s latest hot-spot for infections and hospitalizations.
