Governing in the Face of a Pandemic - A Tale of Two States

A Commentary by Jim Dickerson and Mike Davis

Earlier this week, Governor Mike Parson and First Lady Teresa Parson announced that they have tested positive for COVID-19.

Two states, two governors. One Democrat, One Republican - A Tale of Two States

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced Friday that he and his wife have both tested positive for the coronavirus, although he says he is showing no symptoms.

The two are among four governors around the country who have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. One of those four turned out to be a false positive.

One can accurately make the case this is a false testing rate of 25%. The 1 in 4 sampling is small, yet reflects similar test results on a national level. Let’s take a look at the data.

Of the two governors and their spouses who have tested positive, two had symptoms and two were asymptomatic. So, 50% had no symptoms.

Of the two governors’ spouses who tested positive, all symptoms so far have been mild (100%) and none have required hospitalization, 0%.

Among the staff and others who have regular contact with the governor – security, media, other politicians, etc. – there have been no reported mass outbreaks due to contact. We have been unable to find any evidence of someone else being infected as a direct result of contact, but we will be conservative and stick to mass outbreaks, so, 0%.

Governor Northam, a Democrat, and the country’s only governor who is also a doctor, is a fervent mask wearer who has been criticized by many saying his restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus are overly stringent.

Governor Parson, a Republican, is steadfast in his position that he is not anti-mask, but anti-mandate. He believes restrictions related to the virus should be left up to individual cities and counties. In fact, some counties have lifted the mask mandate altogether and are currently focused on full reopening.

Clearly, the virus does not differentiate between political parties, but the individual governors’ response to the pandemic reveals more interesting data.

For the purpose of testing, the data uses all positive tests in each state, so a false positive still shows as a positive. Additionally, all deaths reported show Covid as a contributing factor, not the sole cause of death. Therefore, these are worst case numbers.

Virginia’s population is 8,536,000, Missouri’s population is 6,137,000.

Virginia has recorded 144,000 positive tests (1.67%) Missouri records show 123,000 positive tests (2.00%).

Virginia has had 3,136 deaths (0.037%), Missouri has had 2,070 deaths (0.034%).

What does the data show? It reveals that depending on where one stands on this issue, people seek data to support their narrative. For example, using the data from the information provided, one could deduce that if a governor and spouse test positive for Covid, the spouse will show symptoms but the governor will not, 100% of the time.

On a larger scale, data throughout the country consistently shows that masks and lock-downs are not producing definitive outcomes. If they were, Virginia would be nearly case-free and Missouri would be overrun with positive cases. The fact is, the numbers are similar and this data is consistent throughout the United States, independent of masks and mandates.

What we do know is the lock-downs are – among other things – destroying small businesses, having a strongly adverse affect on children and creating an alarming suicide rate. Manipulating pandemic statistics to perpetuate a political narrative is dangerous to a free society. Isn’t it about time we get back to behaving like rational citizens and go back to work, back to school, and stop lying to each other simply because this pandemic conveniently happened to occur during an election year?

The views expressed in this editorial are the personal opinion of Jim Dickerson and Mike Davis and do not necessarily represent the opinions of KPGZ, 102.7FM, its employees, or sponsors.