Florida was heavily criticized for reopening too early last year—especially after a surge in coronavirus cases followed. But a year into the pandemic, critics are starting to wonder whether Republic Gov. Ron DeSantis may have got it right after all. The pandemic has killed more than 32,000 people in Florida, but the death rate isn't worse than the national average and is only slightly higher than that of California, which has kept much tighter restrictions in place for much longer, and the economy is thriving, Axios reports. Florida fully reopened in September and DeSantis never imposed a statewide mask mandate. More:
- "An unspoken grand bargain." The New York Times, one of several outlets that recently took another look at Florida's response, describes the state's coronavirus deaths as "in some ways the result of an unspoken grand bargain—the price paid for keeping as many people as possible employed, educated and, some Floridians would argue, sane."
- Not so fast, NYT. Charles Cooke at the National Review says the Times should be more willing to praise Florida's achievement. He says that since the state kept people employed and educated and the death rate remained below that of many states that locked down, "then there was neither a meaningful tradeoff nor a 'grand bargain,' was there?"