Michigan vs Florida
The tale of the COVID pandemic differs in magnitude depending on which part of the US you're looking at. But one state seems to stand out as an outlier that few people seem to be talking about and that is Michigan.
Why is Michigan doing so much worse than other states, especially the states around it? What is different about it, say, compared to Florida?
Is it because there is more international travellers to and from China in Detroit?
Data compared between the two states tell a very different story.
Florida has a population of 21 million, but only has 1,800 deaths or so. That's 0.83 deaths per thousand. It's also never really shut down so reopening wasn't too hard. There has been hardly any protests.
Michigan on the other hand, has as population half the size at 10 million, but has has a much higher number of deaths at 4700, or roughly, 4.6 deaths per thousand. It has been in a Draconian shutdown for the past two months and is only beginning to open up again. Protests galore.
Breaking it down
Travel between China and Detroit certainly contributed a significant part and this would be because of the automotive industry. It's a crucial part of Michigan, and the auto makers consider it a crucial market. However, it isn't the automaker executives that are getting ill. The data isn't saying that the majority of people getting ill are in the automotive industry, it's showing that the people getting most affected are the elderly minorities. The only exception to this is in the Oakland County, where there is a predominantly white and rich population. Here, it is the elderly getting ill too, but not the minorities.
It's still a mystery as to how the virus first arrived in Michigan, but the more punitive question is how did it spread? This is the crucial difference between some nations who have handled the virus extremely well, and others that have utterly failed. South Korea for example was very quick to trace the origins of the virus, asking people all manners of questions to ascertain how they got it, testing those that they have come in contact with, and quarantining people where needed.
These are questions and actions that are only beginning to take place in Michigan. But my feeling is that it's too little too late. Finding out the answers to these questions at this stage is much less useful when the virus has spread absolutely everywhere.
What is clear however, is that the right questions being asked can lead to valuable answers, but the Governor of Michigan isn't interested in those at all. Maintaining the narrative that the virus can indiscriminately anyone and everyone will fuel her justification for a blanket lockdown for god knows how much longer.