“Georgia’s coronavirus numbers looked so rosy because officials misrepresented the data in such a way it’s difficult to believe it wasn’t done on purpose… Georgia isn't the only state itching to reopen that has a penchant for dubious data. Florida actively tried suppressing county coroners from releasing COVID-19 death tallies…

“Time will tell if Georgians will pay the price for the irresponsibility and incompetence of their leaders, or if they’ll catch a break. Hot, humid summer weather could send coronavirus into a remission unearned by responsible public health strategies. One thing, however, is certain: Wishful thinking isn’t going to end this pandemic. If the numbers look too good to be true, they probably are.”
Matthew Fleischer, Los Angeles Times

“The dates on the chart showed a curious ordering: April 30 was followed by May 4; May 5 was followed by May 2, which was followed by May 7 — which in turn was followed by April 26. The dates had been re-sorted to create the illusion of a decline. The five counties were likewise re-sorted on each day to enhance the illusion… The governor’s office apologized for what state Rep. Scott Holcomb, an Atlanta Democrat, properly called a ‘cuckoo’ presentation of data. But as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, it was the third such ‘error’ in as many weeks involving sloppy counting of cases, deaths and other measures tracking covid-19.”
Dana Milbank, Washington Post

Some note that “There’s little correlation between the severity of a nation’s restrictions and whether it managed to curb excess fatalities — a measure that looks at the overall number of deaths compared with normal trends…

“Early preparation, and plentiful health-care resources, were enough for several countries to avoid draconian lockdowns. Germany, with better testing and contact tracing and more intensive care units than its neighbors, could afford to keep the economy a bit more open. Greece, by acting quickly and surely, appears to have avoided the worst, so far… The Covid-19 experience has taught us that it’s far better to respond quickly and smartly, with the right technology and mass testing and tracing, rather than only relying on the crudest of shutdowns. If there are second waves of the virus, we shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the first.”
Elaine He, Bloomberg

“The discussion should start with, ‘How do we open schools in the fall as safely as possible?’ and not with, ‘Should we open schools in the fall or even the spring if the disease is still in circulation?’… Fear of the disease is rational, but the response of ‘Stay home until there is no fear’ is not. We need to start solving this problem — and opening schools, regardless of who says what…

“Yes, in an ideal world, every public-school district would have had online contingencies, curriculum, Chromebooks and high-speed internet at the ready for students in disadvantaged economic circumstances. We don’t live in that world, and we can’t create it by the fall. And keeping schools closed will, as in so many other areas, hit hardest those already hit hardest: The working class, African-Americans, Hispanics and those without access to daycare.”
Zachary Karabell, The Hill

It’s worth noting that “Large metro areas generate more than two-thirds of their states’ economic output in each of [the] political battlegrounds, aside from Wisconsin. In some cases, a single metro area is responsible for generating more than half of its state’s gross domestic product, including Philadelphia, Phoenix, Atlanta and Detroit… The Philadelphia metro alone accounts for nearly three-fifths of the state's output and almost exactly half of its jobs. The Phoenix area accounts for nearly three-fourths of Arizona's output and jobs…

“The daunting equation facing Trump and Republican governors is that no matter how many restrictions they lift on the small-town and rural areas that have become their strongholds, both the national and state economies have little prospect of regaining critical mass unless the GOP can greatly accelerate reopenings in the big metro areas that have been moving away from them politically… And that means Trump can't hope to truly revive the economy without more buy-in from the communities and voters who were the most skeptical of him from the outset -- and have been the most badly battered by the outbreak this year.”
Ronald Brownstein, CNN