Yeah, the "northeastern phenomenon" is called winter.
If the nature of this virus isn't obvious to you by now then I'll just explain it like I would to a golden retriever.
People go indoors in the winter. This virus has its best chance of transmission indoors with multiple people present. Areas of the country getting hit by winter are also going to see increased infection rates.
Florida, which is oppressively hot and humid in the summer, sees much of its population heading outdoors in the winter. People I've met here join a gym in June and quit in October to head outside for running, cycling, surfing etc. So its totally the opposite of the northeast and you can see it in the infection rates.
It has little to do with Covid policies, the biggest driving factor is TIME SPENT INDOORS WITH OTHERS.
In today’s “woke” society, there’s nothing “common” about “common sense”. Why you would try to interject it into these discussions??