Somehow, the number of deaths has become a partisan political issue -- with one party wanting to suppress the numbers and another party wanting to "run up the s

Somehow, the number of deaths has become a partisan political issue -- with one party wanting to suppress the numbers and another party wanting to "run up the score" -- because the lockdowns are a partisan issue now. Democrats want to keep the lockdowns through at least June 1st, with major restrictions on movement at least through 2022, and some restrictions forever (see the "new normal" propaganda push) Republicans see an opportunity to compare these lockdowns with authoritarian policies from history, and are pushing to end restrictions quickly, and make it harder for states and counties to impose lockdowns in the future. As a result, virtually nobody has an interest in just reporting how the virus is going. Everyone has a narrative in mind, and chooses facts based more or less solely on how they promote that narrative. New York wants high numbers. Many Midwest states want low numbers. So they produce them.