Two Years of COVID

[K Graham]

Out of curiosity I looked up the data on deaths per million by state to see which states have been hit the hardest. Naturally you'd expect the most densely populated states to have a more difficult time fending off a contagious virus, so it was no surprise that the most densely populated state of New Jersey was ranked third. Rhode Island is the second state in density, and ranked 14th. Massachusetts is third and ranked 11th in deaths per million. Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware are the next three mostly dense states and they ranked in the bottom half of the country which is a testament to their success in responding to pandemic.

New York, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania round out the rest of the top 10 in population density, and they ranked 6th, 18th, 23rd, and 13th. Florida is a mystery because we know the governor has been suppressing COVID deaths so it is likely ranked much higher than 18th.

In any event, the big surprise was the states that filled out the top ten but were not among those with dense populations.

Here are the states with the highest COVID deaths per million, rounding out the top half of the country:

Mississippi (3,639)
Arizona (3,572)
Alabama (3,477)
Louisiana (3,362)
Tennessee (3,288)
Michigan (3,224)
W. Virginia (3,205)
Arkansas (3,186)
Indiana (3,164)
Georgia (3,096)
New Mexico (3,060)
Oklahoma (3,044)
Florida (3,010)
S. Dakota (2,981)
S. Carolina (2,965)
Nevada (2,894)
Kentucky (2,885)
Ohio (2,829)
Wyoming (2,808)
Montana (2,800)


These are the ones with the highest success with COVID in terms of deaths per million:

Hawaii (822)
Vermont (853)
Puerto Rico (1,125)
Utah (1,281)
Maine (1,289)
Washington (1,414)
Alaska (1,438)
Oregon (1,443)
New Hampshire (1,622)
Washington D.C (1,819)

Obviously Hawaii is first because it is so far removed from the rest of the country, and Alaska is too but also has the lowest population density. What surprised me was Washington's handling of the pandemic, because from I remember that state was hit hard and early.

https://www.worldometers.information/coronavirus/country/us/

[Jersey Girl]

What about Colorado? Are we chopped liver or something?

[Dr. Shades]

What about Colorado? Are we chopped liver or something?

20 states, the ones with average death rates, aren't listed.

[Jersey Girl]

What about Colorado? Are we chopped liver or something?

20 states, the ones with average death rates, aren't listed.

What about Colorado? Are we chopped liver or something?

[Dr. Shades]

20 states, the ones with average death rates, aren't listed.

What about Colorado? Are we chopped liver or something?

Colorado's death rate is average, so it's among the 20 states that aren't listed. Being average, it did not qualify to be listed as either "highest" or "lowest."

[K Graham]

Colorado is 39th just below California. Not among the worst 20 or the best 10.

[Res Ipsa]

Out of curiosity I looked up the data on deaths per million by state to see which states have been hit the hardest. Naturally you'd expect the most densely populated states to have a more difficult time fending off a contagious virus, so it was no surprise that the most densely populated state of New Jersey was ranked third. Rhode Island is the second state in density, and ranked 14th. Massachusetts is third and ranked 11th in deaths per million. Connecticut, Maryland and Delaware are the next three mostly dense states and they ranked in the bottom half of the country which is a testament to their success in responding to pandemic.

New York, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania round out the rest of the top 10 in population density, and they ranked 6th, 18th, 23rd, and 13th. Florida is a mystery because we know the governor has been suppressing COVID deaths so it is likely ranked much higher than 18th.

In any event, the big surprise was the states that filled out the top ten but were not among those with dense populations.

Here are the states with the highest COVID deaths per million, rounding out the top half of the country:

Mississippi (3,639)
Arizona (3,572)
Alabama (3,477)
Louisiana (3,362)
Tennessee (3,288)
Michigan (3,224)
W. Virginia (3,205)
Arkansas (3,186)
Indiana (3,164)
Georgia (3,096)
New Mexico (3,060)
Oklahoma (3,044)
Florida (3,010)
S. Dakota (2,981)
S. Carolina (2,965)
Nevada (2,894)
Kentucky (2,885)
Ohio (2,829)
Wyoming (2,808)
Montana (2,800)


The are the ones with the highest success with COVID in terms of deaths per million are:

Hawaii (822)
Vermont (853)
Puerto Rico (1,125)
Utah (1,281)
Maine (1,289)
Washington (1,414)
Alaska (1,438)
Oregon (1,443)
New Hampshire (1,622)
Washington D.C (1,819)

Obviously Hawaii is first because it is so far removed from the rest of the country, and Alaska is too but also has the lowest population density. What surprised me was Washington's handling of the pandemic, because from I remember that state was hit hard and early.

https://www.worldometers.information/coronavirus/country/us/

Kevin, we were hit hard and early, but the transmission was primarily in our long-term residential care facilities. We discovered our early cases before the virus ripped through the general population like it did on the east coast. The major tech companies, which employ a ton of people, went to work from home before we had stay at home orders. In that first wave, the governor issued a stay at home order early, which turned the first wave into a bump, when you look at the whole history of the pandemic. Our governor paid very close attention to the science and made changes as information changed. He waited until we had stockpiled enough tests, PPE, etc. to start reopening in phases to give the local health departs the opportunity to contact trace.

We've had mask mandates for most of the pandemic. I think there was a window for vaccinated folks in the summer, but that didn't last very long. Store owners were required to enforce mask wearing, and there was a high rate of compliance. We had a fairly low percentage of folks who were belligerent anti-maskers. Our most populous county had even stricter rules: vaccine passports required at bars and restaurants. Our vaccination rate is relatively high, and I think our boosted rate is too.

Sadly, we're suffering from COVID fatigue like everyone else is. Folks relaxed too much after the Delta wave, and people reverted to pre-COVID activities over the holidays. The powers that be declared that in person instruction in the schools must return no matter what, but nothing additional was done to reduce general transmission in the population so that could happen safely. Masks are required, but there isn't room in the schools for meaningful social distancing and little was done to address ventilation. So, we opened up a big, juicy new transmission vector that hurt us in this wave.

I think our new cases have peaked, but our hospitals have record occupancy numbers. And the virus got back into our long-term care system and ripped through that population a second time. Last time I looked, the state's economy was in pretty good shape. Seattle has suffered, and it's going to take a while to recover.

So we had a combination of luck, good leadership, and citizens who were willing to wear masks and get vaccinated. I hope we do better with the next variant.

[Jersey Girl]

What about Colorado? Are we chopped liver or something?

Colorado's death rate is average, so it's among the 20 states that aren't listed. Being average, it did not qualify to be listed as either "highest" or "lowest."

Thank you.