Which states had the most and least effective responses to COVID?

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – A recently published study has rated the Beehive State as having the fourth worst response to COVID-19 in the country.

The study, published by Sykes, determined the rankings by analyzing data on each state from January to March 2021.

Factors in the data included each state’s average COVID-19 case rate per 100,000 people, average test positivity rate, average number of hospital admissions per 100 beds, average percentage of hospitals with supply shortages, average weekly growth rate of vaccine dose distribution per 100,000, and percent of vaccine doses used. On top of these numbers, the study also took into account the first states to issue mask mandates and states with stay-at-home orders.

Each state was then given a score based on their response, which Utah received a score of 35.63.

For context, Hawaii, which the study deemed to have the best response to COVID-19, was given a score of 84.14, and Kentucky, deemed to have the worst response to the pandemic, was given a score of 28.33.

Rounding out the top three worst responses to COVID-19 were Georgia, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.

The data shows that many of the states deemed to have the worst response to COVID-19 were in the southern part of the U.S., with the exception of Utah and New York.

The study also noted that 42 of the 50 states issued stay-at-home orders. Utah along with Arkansas and Oklahoma were among the states that did not issue stay-at-home orders and placed in the bottom 10 for overall response to the pandemic.

North Dakota however, also didn’t issue stay-at-home orders, but placed in the top 10 for overall response to the pandemic, according to the study.

Here are the full state rankings, with number one being the best response to the pandemic and 50 being the worst response: