Dear Rep. Nunes,
I’m sure you were unhappy when COVID-19 made its appearance in California. But you must have taken smug comfort in the realization that it first appeared in Santa Clara County, represented by Anna Eshoo (D-CA-18) and Ro Khanna (D-CA-17). After all, judging from your behavior, righteous Republicans must be immune to the novel coronavirus, which must be devastating to those nasty coastal elites. Surely all the Santa Clara County resources of Stanford and the Alameda County resources of UC Berkeley can’t save them, right? After all, as you said in mid-March, people in your district (CA-22, in Tulare and Fresno counties, in the Central Valley, where I suppose you think real Americans live) should jolly it up at their local bars and restaurants, while we coastal types cower in our homes.
But have you noticed that all that sheltering-in-place here in the Bay Area has actually helped? On April 17 Santa Clara County reported 1870 cumulative cases, 97.3 per 100K residents, and 73 deaths, 3.8 per 100K. Today, May 6, those figures are 2249 cases (117 per 100K), and 123 deaths (6.4/100K). That isn’t great, but it’s a lot better than it might have been, and it’s better than a lot of other places.
Now, I’m sure that Dear Leader smiled a bit at today’s news that California yesterday hit a new daily high for COVID-19 cases, seeming to validate his policy of cruelty toward states where he doesn’t have total, fawning support. But I don’t suppose that you’ve pointed out to him that your own beloved Tulare County, heart of your district, made an important contribution to that total. You see, in the past three weeks or so, while Santa Clara County’s case count increased by a little more than 20%, Tulare County’s increased from 397, 86.2/100K, on April 17 to today’s total of 869, which works out to 188.7/100K, and represents an increase of almost 120%. Why, your per capita figure is now larger even that that of San Mateo County, home of Facebook and Oracle, and it’s even sneaking up on San Francisco’s. I’m sure with a little effort Tulare County can overtake San Francisco’s per capita count, and even pass Santa Clara’s total case count. After all, Tulare County’s population may be smaller, but it’s surely more energetic.
I would say that maybe I’ll see you at your favorite Visalia watering hole or eatery, but I’m still sheltering in place, and glad for the modicum of safety that provides. I also feel pretty good about the contribution my behavior makes to — let me pause for emphasis, because you may not have heard of it — socially beneficial collective action in this case. We will open here in Silicon Valley when it’s safe, and we’ll be plenty glad to do so. We just think that continuing to hunker down now is the best and shortest path to that goal. Meanwhile, please don’t keep urging your constituents to take unnecessary risks. If they don’t listen to you, that’s bad for you. If they do, and they suffer bad outcomes, that’s bad for you too.
Sincerely,
Someone in the Bay Area