According to new research led by professors at Binghamton University, State University of New York, Americans led by Democratic leaders have better fought COVID-19 .
Understanding the relationship between policy and public health measures can better prepare American communities for what to expect from their governments in a future crisis.
Differences between Democrats and Republicans
The difference between policies made in Democratic-led states and those made in Republican-led states corresponded to an approximately 7-8 percent lower virus spread rate .
The researchers used data on public health measures taken in the United States to construct an index of the effectiveness of the COVID political response. They combined this index with daily counts of new COVID cases, along with political and other variables that they considered relevant to the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response of governments to it.
Using this data set, they evaluated the effects of policies on the observed number of new infections and the difference between policies adopted in Republican-led and Democratic-led states .
Democratic-led state governments, on average, took stricter measures than Republican-led state governments, and stricter states made the virus spread much more slowly.