DC, California, Hawaii among ‘safest states’ during pandemic

Washington D.C., California and Hawaii were among the safest states during the pandemic, according to an analysis by WalletHub. 

The company ranked the states based on five COVID-19 metrics: positive testing rate, vaccination rate, hospitalization rate, death rate and estimated transmission rate. 

Washington D.C. was ranked number one with a score of 85.52, while Hawaii and California came in at second and third with scores of 81.02 and 80.96, respectively.

Maryland came in fourth place, while Florida came in fifth in the ranking.

The five lowest states were Indiana, Kentucky, Wyoming, Arizona and Ohio. Indiana came in last place with a score of 17.76.

Florida is the only state in the top ten ranking that has a Republican governor, and has had some of the most relaxed COVID-19 restrictions in the country. 

All other governors in the top ten, as well as the D.C. mayor, are Democrats who had strict coronavirus restrictions throughout the pandemic. 

Hawaii came in number one for the lowest hospitalization and positive testing rate throughout the pandemic, while multiple states were tied for the highest hospitalization rate and New Mexico had the highest positive testing rate. 

Alabama has had the lowest death rate, while Wyoming has had the highest. Wyoming also has the lowest vaccination rate, while multiple states are tied for the highest. 

The analysis comes as the U.S. is bracing for another potential wave of coronavirus cases due to the omicron variant. 

Early studies suggest omicron is more transmissible than the delta variant but potentially less severe.