Did the U.S. close down the economy for New York and New Jersey?

At Wednesday’s daily White House virus briefing President Trump said that the virus situation in 29 states was under control and trending towards resolution. Both he and his medical team have talked of a gradual reopening of the nation, as many states have such low infection rates that they could reopen faster than other more densely populated states where the infection rates have been high.

Two of the most hard hit states, the two with the highest infection and mortality rates, have been New York and New Jersey. It leads one to ponder the question: Has the United States closed down most of our economy, thrown many out of work, and inflicted untold damage to the national order to deal with the high infection and mortality rates in just two states?

The state by state assessment of the severity of the virus makes interesting reading on the subject.

There are many states in the country that thankfully have not had to deal with high rates of the virus. Maine has had only 734 infections as of Wednesday, Hawaii 517 infections, Montana 404, Nebraska 901, North Dakota 341, Vermont 750, West Virginia 694, and Wyoming 494. New York has 213, 779 infections and New Jersey has had 71, 030. These are infections, not deaths. New Jersey is almost double of any other state aside from New York. New York triples the New Jersey rate. This is CDC data.

Factor in that the death rate currently is less than one percent for those 20-54 years of age and 1%-3% for those 55-64, this does not count underlying conditions, and the federal and state governments have stopped the economic engine of the United States and disrupted tens of millions of lives for an infection and death rate that is far lower than maladies such as heart disease and diabetes. And we do not stop work, close schools, and spend $6 trillion tax dollars to deal with heart disease and diabetes on a regular basis.

When this is over and the totals are added up a review will have to be conducted to assess where the true centers of the infections were based. If the current numbers hold steady, then the vast majority of states and their residents paid a very high price for a health crisis centered in only two states in the Northeast.