COVID Chaos: New York and California vs. Florida and South Dakota

Clockwise from top left: Govs. Cuomo (D-NY), DeSantis (R-FL), Newsom (D-CA), and Noem (R-SD).

Recently at YourSurvivalGuy.com, you read about the Butterfly Effect— that’s “the notion that a butterfly stirring the air today in Peking can transform storm systems next month in New York,” explained by James Gleick in Chaos. In other words, the weather is like a domino effect. But what about non-weather events? Like a dead animal in China. Look at the COVID storm we’re in today.

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

What’s even more disastrous is how government officials in certain blue states (Cuomo in NY and Newsom in CA) have created chaos. You just can’t make it up, especially when compared to Gov/s Kristi Noem, SD, and Ron DeSantis in Florida. When you put Florida vs. California in a COVID matchup, it’s not even close.

New Yorkers are flocking to Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, but Mansion Global explains that Florida has many other locations where those fleeing the oppressive governments of the North East can find sanctuary, writing:

In this special series, we’ll look at five areas in Florida—Destin, Daytona Beach, Cape Coral, Riverside Avondale and Pompano Beach—that should be on anyone’s list if they’re considering a move to the Sunshine State.

Destin: Florida’s Under-the-Radar Beach Haven

Destin, the family-friendly, celebrity-studded beach paradise on Florida’s fabled Emerald Coast, is attracting new waves of high-net-worth individuals who are basking in and banking on its beauty…Read More

Daytona Beach, Home to NASCAR and a 23-Mile Stretch of Hard-Packed Sand

In the world of Florida real estate, especially among the state’s well-developed coastal communities, Daytona Beach is known for its relative affordability.

“I live on the ocean now and I would pay double, if not triple, for what I have in South Florida,” said Rachel McGrath, an agent with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty…Read More

Cape Coral: A Booming Florida Beach Town With a Midwestern Feel

Cape Coral, the exclusive Southwest Florida master-planned community with a down-home Midwestern feel, is a popular destination for those who love life on the beach.

“It’s one of the fastest-growing cities in the country,” said Stephanie Bissett, a broker associate at Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. “People are coming for the quality of life, the affordability. They are all ages—back in the day, the median age was 79; it is now 45…Read More

Riverside Avondale: A Luxury Enclave of Jacksonville, Florida

When people think of Florida, their minds often go straight to the beach. But Jacksonville offers more than a chance to get one’s toes in the sand.

Located in the northeast corner of the Sunshine State, the city has walkable neighborhoods on the St. Johns River, seasonal weather and a small-town feel. And it’s not like beachcombers have no options…Read More

Pompano Beach Offers Beaches, Fishing and Sailing, Amid Lots of Development

Pompano Beach, located just north of Fort Lauderdale on Florida’s southwest Gold Coast, was, not so long ago, a sleepy, laid-back surf town. In the past decade, it has seen beachfront upgrades and redevelopment and an increase in new luxury residential projects, and prices and sales activity has soared…Read More

Florida has become a haven for refugees from blue states because of Governor Ron DeSantis’s brave decision to keep the state open for business. Despite warnings of doom, Florida has performed as well as or better than California in the face of COVID-19. The American Institute for Economic Research reports:

Florida and California are remarkably similar for their warm climates, beaches, tourist destinations, immigrant populations, and more, but both states could not be more different with respect to the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. Florida operates on close to zero pandemic-related restrictions whereas California maintains strict lockdown policies.

In California, virtually all public schools are closed, restaurants must follow unwavering capacity limits, travelers must quarantine for ten days, and on the list goes. Meanwhile, Florida’s schools are all open for in-person instruction, state-wide restrictions do not exist for restaurants, and there is no travel quarantine implemented by the state. All of these details point to Florida’s current stringency score being low at 33.8 compared to California’s 58.8.

While the media labels California Governor Newsom a “lockdown fanatic” for his authoritarian approach, they call Florida Governor DeSantis “DeathSantis” for being too relaxed. The two governors are polar opposites in how they handle Covid, but their outcomes are peculiarly similar.

In total, California experienced more cases per 100,000 people, while Florida had more deaths per 100,000 people. During the summer of 2020, cases and deaths spiked higher in Florida, but the course switched from November through January as cases and deaths peaked in California.

One reason why Florida has more deaths but not cases is that the elderly – those who are more vulnerable to the virus – account for a larger portion of Florida’s population. In fact, Florida has the second largest 65+ population at about 16.5%, but ranks #27 for deaths in the US. The elderly in California, on the other hand, comprise 14.8% of the state population. Still, California has worse outcomes within nursing homes at 2.27 deaths per 100 residents, while Florida sees 0.72 deaths per 100 residents. The chart below provides a side-by-side comparison to show that the statistics are similar and that one state did not clearly do better than the other.

Rather, the outcomes suggest that lockdown measures might not have a significant impact on lowering the number of Covid cases and deaths. But a more comprehensive look at the economic and social well-being of the states potentially reveals a greater disparity.

First, the unemployment rate in Florida remains consistently lower than California’s. As of December 2020, Florida’s (preliminary) unemployment rate was at 6.1% while California’s was 9%. This means that a staggering 1,700,383 people are unemployed in California, compared to 614,327 in Florida. (The gap between the states is still immense when the numbers are adjusted for population.)

Action Line: When China creates Chaos, and your blue state governor adds to it, it’s up to you to find your island life.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.