As Armstrong and Getty said in this audio, this is a perfect example of how you get stats to lie for your position. Armstrong and Getty discuss the stats Governor Newsome decided to use in California’s “state of the state” speech.
In a letter to the editor to an article in the PANAMA CITY NEWS HERALD, we see a response to this:
In a recent letter to the editor, reader Martin Green twisted COVID death statistics and mischaracterized Florida’s handling of the virus. In fact, Florida ranks 19th among all states in per capita death rate, and that is despite being the state with the highest percentage (20.1%) of its residents over the age of 65 — by far the most vulnerable group to the virus.
Yes, California has a 32% lower per capita death rate, but its population is skewed much younger, with only 14% of its people 65 years or older. So, the outcome of the two states is actually very similar, but Florida remained responsible and trusted in its citizens to make their own risk assessments while California imposed some of the most severe restrictions on its people.
Indeed, states like New Jersey, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania that also imposed strict mandates and lockdowns had higher per capita death rates than did Florida.
I suggest Mr. Green and others who are so quick to criticize constitutionally grounded governors like Ron DeSantis to get their facts straight and reflect on just how much they want the government to run their lives.
I was going to use an AIER article as an excerpt, however, I am waiting for clarification of the elderly percentages in Florida from it’s author. I believe John Miller’s “letter to the editor” got closer to the real numbers. This graph I believe shows a better % than the AIER article….
…. that being said, the following article zeroes in better — here the NEW YORK POST also discusses the issue well:
When the final history of the COVID-19 pandemic is written it will likely conclude that most of the non-pharmaceutical public health measures taken to combat the disease — that is, mask mandates and lockdowns — were largely ineffective.
The unimportance of public mitigation measures can be illustrated by comparing outcomes in states that imposed strict mitigation measures versus states, such as Florida, that adopted a minimalist approach.
Florida, New York, California and Illinois are all large states with multiple urban areas. But while Florida has been the poster child for a hands-off approach by government, the latter three states imposed multiple intrusive measures over long periods of time.
Florida, for example, recommended but did not require face coverings. While several large counties imposed their own mandates, Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order barring governments and school districts from imposing them last May.
New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul lifted the state’s general mask order on Feb. 10, but masks are still required in schools, health care facilities and on public transit. California lifted its universal indoor mask mandate on Feb. 16, but the requirement remains in effect for the unvaccinated. Illinois announced it will lift its long-standing mask mandate, with the exception of schools, at the end of this month.
Any comparison of the four states must account for the different age distributions of their populations and especially the percent of the population that is 65 and older.
Far and away the most important factor in determining the severity of COVID-19 illness is age. There is an exponential relationship between age and COVID-19’s infection fatality rate. The estimated IFR is very low for children and younger adults (0.002% at age 10; 0.01% at age 25), increases to 0.4% by age 55, and then soars with advanced age (1.4% at age 65; 4.6% at age 75; and 15% at age 85).
Florida has the second-highest percentage of population 65 and older (21.3%) in the nation. In contrast, New York ranks 25th among the states in the percentage of population 65 and older (17.4%), Illinois is 35th (16.6%), and California is 45th (15.2%).
Remarkably, despite its elderly population and laissez-faire approach, Florida has only the 33rd highest age-adjusted COVID-19 death rate per 100,000 population (251) among the states. That puts it in the same ballpark as mandate heavy Illinois (ranked 32 with 255 deaths/100,000) and California (ranked 38; 234) and well below New York (ranked 7th highest; 334).
[….]
From early in the pandemic the media vilified Florida Governor DeSantis as irresponsible and dangerous. Some labeled him “DeathSantis.” But DeSantis’s approach proved to be right. The mitigation measures imposed in other, largely blue, states did little to improve health outcomes. And Florida was better able to preserve its economic health than most other states.
As COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to plummet around the country, hold-out public health officials and politicians should strongly consider mimicking the COVID policies of that “Florida Man.”
Dr. Joel Zinberg, MD, is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and director of public health and wellness at the Paragon Health Institute.
Stats are good, when used properly.