LETTER: Don’t use COVID deaths to make political comparisons

Using COVID-19 deaths as a tool to divide our country politically and make a false point is shameful and serves no positive purpose. Making a comparison of the way governors of “red and blue” states have managed COVID is an awful and false method to show how one political party is superior during this horrific pandemic.

Population and population density are better indicators of how well or poorly a state is doing during this pandemic. A state with fewer people and larger area is more likely to have a lower COVID death count than a state with a larger population and smaller area.

Of the 16 states with the lowest population density per 1,000 there are 10 Republican governors and six Democrat governors. The 10 GOP states average 109.49 deaths per thousand, and the six states with Democrat governors average 67.83 deaths per thousand.

All 16 of the states with the lowest population density are the majority of the states with the lowest population, and 14 are among the 20 largest states in area.

It’s easy to use deaths per million as a way of measure, but it’s not the right way. As an example, comparing Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado with California, Texas, Florida and New York is just wrong. Please note the mix of “red and blue.”

But then again, using deaths from COVID-19 as a measure of political superiority is even worse.