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Alaska and Florida are ranked as America’s safest states from the coronavirus pandemic, and Montana and Michigan are the most vulnerable, based on deaths, infections, vaccination and other factors.
Researchers found that states that voted for Democrats in the 2020 presidential election scored much higher than states that went for the Republican candidate — bolstering the claim that liberal areas outperformed the pathogen.
Analysts have speculated whether a distrust of vaccines and an aversion to masks and social distancing is more pronounced among Republicans, which could explain the worse Covid-19 effects in those areas.
Alaska ranked as the state best protected from the pandemic, with Florida, Hawaii, Colorado and North Carolina rounding out the top five, according to the study by personal financial website WalletHub.
Montana was the worst performing state. The bottom five also include Michigan, West Virginia, Arkansas and Kentucky.
RANKED: America’s Most Covid-Proof and Most Vulnerable States
Health workers vaccinate patients in Fairbanks, Alaska, best place in America to prevent Covid-19 infections and complications
Researchers scored the regions on their rates of coronavirus transmission, positive tests, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations.
Jill Gonzalez, one of the study’s analysts, said North Carolina scored well because it “ranks first” in the proportion of people over the age of 12 who have been stung at least once, and also because it has had no deaths in the past week. reported. ‘.
She linked vaccination coverage to the US economy, which suffered another blow on Thursday when underlying inflation hit a four-decade high of 6.6 percent in September, a sign that rising prices are deeply entrenched.
“The country’s level of security affects the economy because it is linked to the lifting of restrictions, and it determines how much confidence people have to spend money,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
Although the virus has declined, more than 330 people die from Covid-19 on average every day, with a US death toll of more than 1.05 million, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC).
States were scored on their rates of coronavirus transmission, positive tests, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations. Democratic states outperformed their Republican counterparts
A health worker administers a shot to a homeless woman at a mobile vaccination unit in Miami, Florida, ranked the second best state in America to prevent Covid-19 infections and complications
The White House this week urged Americans to get updated Covid-19 boosters before Halloween to have maximum protection against the pathogen by Thanksgiving and the holidays, as it warned of a “challenging” virus season ahead .
But that message has been challenged by Florida’s top physician Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who urged men ages 18 to 39 not to get a Covid vaccine, claiming the shot significantly increases their risk of dying from heart disease.
The state’s vaccine-skeptical surgeon general cited an analysis from the Florida Department of Health to back up his claim that mRNA shots increase the risk of heart-related death by 84 percent in young men.
But independent scientists say the analysis contains major statistical errors.
The CDC recognizes that the vaccines can cause myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle in rare cases, but believes the benefit of protecting against Covid-19 outweighs the risk.
The health service says about 11.5 million Americans have received the updated shots, which are intended to provide a boost of protection against both the original strain of Covid-19 and the BA.5 strain that is dominant around the world. is.
In a separate study this week, WalletHub assessed 182 major U.S. cities on 42 safety measures — covering everything from Covid-19 rates to the threat of wildfires and the number of uninsured drivers on the road.
RANKED: America’s Safest and Most Dangerous Cities
Columbia, Maryland, was ranked as the safest cities in America, and St. Louis, Missouri, as the most dangerous, in surveys of Covid-19 vaccination rates, crime rates, natural disasters and economic indicators such as unemployment and homelessness.
At the top of the list was Columbia, Maryland, a suburban area between Washington DC and Baltimore that is home to some 100,000 people and often scores well for quality of life, opportunity, and relatively low crime rates.
Other top scorers were Nashua, New Hampshire, Laredo, Texas, Portland, Maine and Warwick, Rhode Island.
The worst ranked city, St. Louis, Missouri is famous for The Gateway Arch. While the city of some 300,000 is considered livable and vibrant on some scales, it also suffers from relatively high rates of violent crime, racial tension and other woes.
Other low scorers were Fort Lauderdale, Florida, San Bernardino, California, Detroit, Michigan and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“Threats to security in the US come in many forms, from the continued presence of the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters to mass shootings and traffic accidents,” researchers said in a statement.
“Some cities are just better at protecting their residents from harm.”