Covid-19 Pandemic and Politics: The Cases of Florida and Ohio

This study provides empirical evidence supporting that the coronavirus may spread in a natural manner, or the spread accelerates with community population, if both local and national leaders downplay the danger of the epidemic. People may compensate inadequate information and take self-protective actions to slow the spread, although it is not enough to stop the natural spread. The larger the number of core voters for the national leader, the larger community cases. These results are derived by comparing the coronavirus outbreaks in Florida, in which the governor follows President Trump's approach, and in Ohio, in which the governor has taken a much more cautious approach.