a322x1n
2021-10-13 16:25:15 UTC
<https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/strict-covid-19-policies-in-demo
cratic-led-states-worked-new-research-found-republican-led-states-saw-mor
e-illness/ar-AAPsLYj?ocid=msedgntp>
<https://tinyurl.com/h2z9hdkw>
Strict COVID-19 policies in Democratic-led states worked, new research
found. Republican-led states saw more illness. ***@insider.com
(Erin Schumaker), 5 hrs ago.
Democratic-led states had stricter COVID-19 responses and better health
outcomes, a new study found.
States with stricter COVID-19 rules saw 8%
fewer cases, on average, than models would've predicted.
The study's researchers said the results showed politics shouldn't
influence public-health policy.
After nearly two years of politically
charged battles over whether strict COVID-19 restrictions work - and
whether they're worth the consequences - scientists awarded a point to
Democratic governors this week.
A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on
Monday found that COVID-19 rules in states with Democratic governors
were, on average, linked to 8% fewer daily COVID-19 cases in 2020 than a
mathematical model would have predicted otherwise.
Republican-led states, by contrast, had 8% more cases than the model
would have expected.
To assess the strength and effectiveness of various states' COVID-19
policies, the researchers behind the study created a system they called
the "Public Health Protective Policy Index." The index factored in daily
COVID-19 case counts in 2020, a range of policies enacted at the state
level, and governors' political affiliations, then assigned quantitative
values to these many factors. Then the team compared the resulting
scores.
Those results showed that the public-health measures Democratic
governors put in place last year were, on average, 10 percentage points
more stringent than those put in place by Republican governors. And that
had an observable effect on how many people got sick.
"Eight percent is not huge, but it's there. If you're wondering if
policies actually matter, apparently they do," Olga Shvetsova, a
political-science professor at Binghamton University who led the study,
told Insider.
Shvetsova said her team did not do state-specific analyses, opting
instead to look at trends across multiple states. A clear political
pattern emerged - one that probably would look even more dire for
Republican-led states if it included data from 2021, Shvetsova added.
"What we see in Republican states is really tragic right now. They
squandered their initial good fortune - badly," she said.
The link between Democratic leadership and lower COVID-19 infections
does not necessarily mean governors' actions directly drove down COVID
cases, however - it's just a correlation. The new study also did not
examine the relationship between political leadership and
hospitalizations or deaths from the virus. Nor did it assess the degree
to which states enforced governors' policies or how much residents
actually complied.
What's more, a governor's politics didn't always predict the degree of
strictness in a state's COVID-19 policies. In Vermont, Massachusetts,
and Maryland - which have Republican governors but tend to be more
liberal - GOP governors pursued more aggressive COVID-19 policies and
restrictions that were more similar to Democrat-led states.
Other studies also found links between political affiliations and health
outcomes.
The new study builds on previous research, published in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine in July, that found a link between the
political leanings of US governors and the number of COVID-19 infections
and deaths by state. The researchers behind that study pointed to
differences in state policies as one of the reasons Republican-led
states had recorded more infections per capita since June 2020.
Up to that point, Republican-led states were recording fewer COVID-19
cases, deaths, and positive tests per capita than Democratic-led states.
But after June 3, 2020, Republican-led states had 1.1 times as many
daily cases per 100,000 people, on average.
A handful of other studies have also found that overall, Democratic
states had lower test-positivity rates from May to December 2020, a
metric that suggests more rigorous testing and infection containment.
Republican governors were also slower to issue stay-at-home orders and
mask mandates, while Democratic leaders were both more likely to
implement those rules and to leave them in place. Republican governors,
meanwhile, were quicker to roll back COVID-19-related restrictions in
2020.
"Governors' political affiliation might function as an upstream
progenitor of multifaceted policies that in unison impact the spread of
the virus," the authors of the July study wrote. (They noted, however,
that Maryland and Massachusetts bucked the trend.)
In both studies, researchers came to a similar conclusion: If
politicians' priority is to keep their constituents from getting sick,
they should delegate public-health policy decisions to medical and
public-health professionals.
Or, as Shvetsova put it: "Politicians are creatures of their public. The
public cannot be its own doctor."
Read the original article on Business Insider.
cratic-led-states-worked-new-research-found-republican-led-states-saw-mor
e-illness/ar-AAPsLYj?ocid=msedgntp>
<https://tinyurl.com/h2z9hdkw>
Strict COVID-19 policies in Democratic-led states worked, new research
found. Republican-led states saw more illness. ***@insider.com
(Erin Schumaker), 5 hrs ago.
Democratic-led states had stricter COVID-19 responses and better health
outcomes, a new study found.
States with stricter COVID-19 rules saw 8%
fewer cases, on average, than models would've predicted.
The study's researchers said the results showed politics shouldn't
influence public-health policy.
After nearly two years of politically
charged battles over whether strict COVID-19 restrictions work - and
whether they're worth the consequences - scientists awarded a point to
Democratic governors this week.
A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on
Monday found that COVID-19 rules in states with Democratic governors
were, on average, linked to 8% fewer daily COVID-19 cases in 2020 than a
mathematical model would have predicted otherwise.
Republican-led states, by contrast, had 8% more cases than the model
would have expected.
To assess the strength and effectiveness of various states' COVID-19
policies, the researchers behind the study created a system they called
the "Public Health Protective Policy Index." The index factored in daily
COVID-19 case counts in 2020, a range of policies enacted at the state
level, and governors' political affiliations, then assigned quantitative
values to these many factors. Then the team compared the resulting
scores.
Those results showed that the public-health measures Democratic
governors put in place last year were, on average, 10 percentage points
more stringent than those put in place by Republican governors. And that
had an observable effect on how many people got sick.
"Eight percent is not huge, but it's there. If you're wondering if
policies actually matter, apparently they do," Olga Shvetsova, a
political-science professor at Binghamton University who led the study,
told Insider.
Shvetsova said her team did not do state-specific analyses, opting
instead to look at trends across multiple states. A clear political
pattern emerged - one that probably would look even more dire for
Republican-led states if it included data from 2021, Shvetsova added.
"What we see in Republican states is really tragic right now. They
squandered their initial good fortune - badly," she said.
The link between Democratic leadership and lower COVID-19 infections
does not necessarily mean governors' actions directly drove down COVID
cases, however - it's just a correlation. The new study also did not
examine the relationship between political leadership and
hospitalizations or deaths from the virus. Nor did it assess the degree
to which states enforced governors' policies or how much residents
actually complied.
What's more, a governor's politics didn't always predict the degree of
strictness in a state's COVID-19 policies. In Vermont, Massachusetts,
and Maryland - which have Republican governors but tend to be more
liberal - GOP governors pursued more aggressive COVID-19 policies and
restrictions that were more similar to Democrat-led states.
Other studies also found links between political affiliations and health
outcomes.
The new study builds on previous research, published in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine in July, that found a link between the
political leanings of US governors and the number of COVID-19 infections
and deaths by state. The researchers behind that study pointed to
differences in state policies as one of the reasons Republican-led
states had recorded more infections per capita since June 2020.
Up to that point, Republican-led states were recording fewer COVID-19
cases, deaths, and positive tests per capita than Democratic-led states.
But after June 3, 2020, Republican-led states had 1.1 times as many
daily cases per 100,000 people, on average.
A handful of other studies have also found that overall, Democratic
states had lower test-positivity rates from May to December 2020, a
metric that suggests more rigorous testing and infection containment.
Republican governors were also slower to issue stay-at-home orders and
mask mandates, while Democratic leaders were both more likely to
implement those rules and to leave them in place. Republican governors,
meanwhile, were quicker to roll back COVID-19-related restrictions in
2020.
"Governors' political affiliation might function as an upstream
progenitor of multifaceted policies that in unison impact the spread of
the virus," the authors of the July study wrote. (They noted, however,
that Maryland and Massachusetts bucked the trend.)
In both studies, researchers came to a similar conclusion: If
politicians' priority is to keep their constituents from getting sick,
they should delegate public-health policy decisions to medical and
public-health professionals.
Or, as Shvetsova put it: "Politicians are creatures of their public. The
public cannot be its own doctor."
Read the original article on Business Insider.