It is not clear that states have sacrificed jobs to save lives or sacrificed lives to save jobs. North Carolina now does well on the combined impact of Covid deaths and lost jobs. This analysis does not, however, include other causes of death, mental health issues arising from isolation, learning losses in K-12 schools, or increases in child abuse and domestic violence that could be costs of tighter restrictions.
Part 3 of this series provides the data from the CDC and DHHS used to make the graph. It uses a sample week to demonstrate how to apply the data. The hope here is to bring more clarity to what is a very real threat still facing North Carolinians.
"I am a Democrat. He’s the governor, and a Democratic governor.” And with that explanation, North Carolina state senator Paul Lowe cast the deciding vote to sustain Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of a bipartisan bill offering in-person learning for kids.
An analysis of CDC estimates and DHHS deaths data for North Carolina finds that North Carolina has been witnessing more excess deaths than COVID deaths. These worrisome findings seem to confirm research and experts' warnings about the potential net deadlier effects of government lockdowns and severe personal and business restrictions, such as from Gov. Roy Cooper's executive orders.
Data from the CDC and DHHS showed that NC was suffering excess deaths without even counting COVID-19 deaths, but DHHS data reporting is so far behind, it's incomplete after late September. Meanwhile, Gov. Roy Cooper was steadily increasing restrictions on people and businesses heedlessly.
Learning loss is a real problem without a simple, one-size-fits-all solution. For addressing a student's learning deficit, research increasingly favors tutors because they have different skill sets than teachers. Education Savings Accounts are another way to tailor solutions to a struggling student's individual needs.
Learning loss from pandemic-driven loss of in-person instruction in public schools is a serious problem, and its impacts vary by race, income, and geography. Education Savings Accounts offer an alternative that may be better for many families because they give parents the ability to address their children's specific educational needs.
Cooper has continued to ignore research on the long-term severe health consequences from lockdowns. New research from professors at Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard Medical School warns that the death toll from the economic impact of lockdowns and other government COVID containment measures could far exceed that of the virus itself.
Since each state’s business restrictions temporarily sacrifice jobs to save lives, a reasonable question would be, “How are states doing?” That is the point of the Covid Misery Index, which measures each state on jobs lost per million state residents since February and the number of Covid-related deaths per million state residents.
Lives are at stake. Are Gov. Cooper's lockdowns, business shutdowns and partial shutdowns, social-distancing policies, gathering bans, and myriad other restrictions on people, places, and events having devastating health effects on North Carolinians?
