> Meanwhile, Texas and Florida, which largely remained open and avoided draconian lockdowns, seem to have made out OK. Kids have been going to school, businesses have stayed open. You look at COVID death rates by state, and neither Florida nor Texas cracks the top half.
The arguments are passionate, but in at least one case objectively wrong. The current death rate in Florida is 1.15 per 100,000, putting it at #1 in the U.S. Likewise, the current COVID-19 death rate in TX is 0.81 per 100,000 putting that state at #6 in the U.S.[1]
[1]: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html