Since we first heard the words coronavirus and Covid-19 in early 2020, there has been a great deal of discussion, or debate as the case may be, about public safety. We did not enter into the pandemic with a united front as a country and that left states working individually to create safety protocols for their residents.

Without that united stand against the virus, states and even individual cities were left to fend for themselves in trying to navigate what would or wouldn't be the right decisions for the people who live there. Some states, like Kentucky, implemented strict mask mandates fairly early on. Other states were much more lax when it came to mask-wearing, despite what the Center for Disease Control was recommending at the time.

The mask debate left many frustrated either because they felt they shouldn't have to wear one or because others were refusing to wear them for the sake of the greater good. It created a great deal of opposition and divide between people across the country... and that was before the vaccine was released.

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Once the vaccine was released, it seemed to create an even bigger divide between those who wanted to do what they felt was right by getting vaccinated and those who were adamantly opposed. Some states, like Michigan, even incentivized the vaccine in an effort to encourage people to get vaccinated again Covid-19.

Now here we are, the beginning of 2022, nearly two years after the pandemic started in the United States and Wallethub has done a study to determine which states are the safest when it comes to Covid-19 by comparing five "key metrics" across all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. Those five key metrics are,

 1) “Vaccination Rate,”

2) “Positive Testing Rate,”

3) “Hospitalization Rate,”

4) “Death Rate,”

5) “Transmission Rate.”

Wallethub then used a 100 point scale, assigning a weighted value to each of the 5 key metrics. Using that scale, they were able to rank the 50 states, and the District of Columbia from the safest - Hawaii, which scored 80.01/100 points - to the least safe state, Oklahoma, which came in at the number 51 position with only 16.03/100 points.

But what about Indiana? With a low vaccine rate and a high Covid-19 death rate, we found the Hoosier State holding the #50 spot on the list. Second-to-last for Covid-19 safety. To learn more about the study, and to see where other states like Illinois and Kentucky landed on the list, visit Wallethub.com.

[Source: Wallethub]

 

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