(Washington Post) Several states, including Georgia, embarked on an unexpectedly political experiment late last month. Despite not hitting the benchmarks established by the federal government for scaling back social distancing measures, they were going to do so anyway, echoing President Trump’s desire for a return to economic normalcy even while rejecting the safety guidelines Trump ostensibly espoused.
An intense debate over the decision erupted, with critics suggesting that those states would see a spike in new coronavirus cases, given the renewed ability of the virus to spread. Those supporting the decision figured that no spikes were likely or, perhaps, that they could be contained.
So what happened? On Wednesday morning, Axios offered a provocative answer: States that reopened were seeing fewer new coronavirus cases.