Rates with trends, agree absolutely. However, relative to this thread's focus: ND, I believe rolling active positive cases and rolling death counts have qualified info that is beneficial to policy and medical management decisions. I don't believe comparing CA to ND (or any other states for that matter) have much value aside from political hot bugging.
We're really not even sure what's working and what's not; what's effective and what's not with societal data to confirm any findings, are we? There's supposition and belief that actions we're taking are working, but no real data yet. We're still in the middle of the pandemic. What we learn and know is truth will come at the end of the pandemic, for use in the next pandemic (or phase of this one; mutation, etc).
We should continue the efforts we feel are working (individually) and work to keep ourselves and those around us safe and infection free. That is probably the most effective we can be combating Covid as individuals.
I have a niece who lives in North Dakota. There have been no mask mandates, all children have attended school as if there was no pandemic. People don't wear masks in most places.
The results show. They were long before they got hit, but they have since got hammered, they are now #4 on the per capita list for deaths even though their cases climbed long after we have learned how best to treat for best results.
Talking about total deaths per state is almost meaningless, not that the deaths don't have value, but deaths per capita puts all states on a level playing field to understand trends. It's not being exploited for political gain or for power, it's providing the information that policy could and should be based upon. In a sparsely populated state, the number of cases should be lower, but as we all know there are many factors. It is a colder state than many, the ceilings are lower, the stores are smaller and people got forced indoors earlier than other states.
Yes, this state is getting hit hard now. I think there are many factors, among them the sports events, especially the 400-500 team soccer tournament that most certainly featured hundreds of California teams along with their parents and families mixing with others in hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.
There is no one single way that the virus gets around, in that manner, it's an equal opportunity infector.
We're all in this together, and yet this nation has seen itself massively divided by the politicians and media, and that has only accomplished killing off more people and making it much harder to reopen businesses.
IMHO, had there been no anti-masker movement, most businesses would be reopened and the pandemic wouldn't be raging nearly to the extent that it has been.