Locked-down California runs out of reasons for surprising surge

Locked-down California runs out of reasons for surprising surge

Andrew Noymer, a University of California, Irvine associate professor of population health and disease prevention, said people often look to California’s status as a deep blue state to suggest that left-leaning residents uniformly agree with lockdown protocols and believe in staying home. But that ignores a large share of residents who feel otherwise, even if they aren’t a majority. “In politics, 40 percent doesn’t carry the day, but 40 percent can drive the epidemic,” Noymer said. “California is deep blue, but … from the virus’s perspective, we’re a lot more purple than people give us credit for.”