absolutely true. it was a party difference. @Baller23Boogie you're simply wrong in your assertion that it was a two way street. as marv notes it absolutely was a party difference and by county. county is the germane situs. you have to remember booger that the pandemic came in waves and while red counties shut down early on they were far faster to open up. to open everything up. it became political. when missouri counties were closed i was in naples and it was wide open. bars open. no masks etc. you can see this difference in deaths as well as the red counties began to see higher numbers of deaths compared to blue. not only lockdowns but vaccinations. you see fewer in the hardcore trump counties etc as the pandemic carried on
In terms of schools:
Scroll half way down and you can see what Holcomb, a Republican, signed that schools had to follow all year.
That was a statewide thing, not county by county.