Hawaii is the safest state in the nation to weather the coronavirus, according to a study released Thursday by the online credit reporting company WalletHub.
The study, conducted during the past two weeks, used five metrics: vaccination rate, positive testing rate, hospitalization rate, death rate and transmission rate, using data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health &Human Services, COVID-19 Electronic Laboratory Reporting and epiforecasts.io.
Rankings are based on data available as of 12:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Hawaii earned a score of 80.01, with California coming in second with 75.77 and Virginia third with 74.22.
Coming in last was Oklahoma, with a score of 16.03, followed by Indiana with 18.35 and Ohio with 19.61.
Making up its first-place ranking, Hawaii ranked second in the nation for a low death rate, fifth for a low transmission rate, ninth for the hospitalization rate and 11th for vaccination rate. The transmission rate is an estimate of the average number of people to whom an infected person will transmit COVID-19.
Gov. David Ige welcomed the news, praising the populace for its efforts.
“Hawaii’s number one ranking as the safest state in the country during COVID-19, is in large part because of the diligence and patience of our residents, mask wearing to protect our communities, robust vaccination rates and testing options, and our Safe Travels Hawaii program which has served to keep both our residents and visitors safe,” Ige said Thursday in a statement. “We must also recognize the hard work and dedication of our health care system, the Department of Health and countless others across the state, as we all work together to care for and protect our families and communities during this pandemic.”
The state Department of Health reported Thursday 10 new deaths and 2,380 new confirmed and probable infections statewide, with 375 of those cases and two of those deaths Big Island residents. The state is so overwhelmed with testing it is unable to provide positivity rates.
But the department reports 74.6% of the state’s population is now fully vaccinated, and 81.8% has received at least one dose. More than a third, 33.8% has received a third dose. Nationwide, around 64% of the population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Tuesday.
“Viruses have one mission — to live. They are smart. They are sneaky. Coronaviruses mutate quickly, easily, and unpredictably. Coronaviruses are not going away,” Amy Peak, chairwoman of the Health Science Department and Director of Undergraduate Healthcare &Business and Health Science Programs at Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, said in a statement.
“It is not realistic to think we will eliminate coronaviruses — they will continue to morph and change,” Peak added. “What is realistic is to develop a multidimensional approach to the management of coronaviruses. … We have effective vaccines. More effective treatments are coming. Behavior change is the hardest thing to accomplish.”
The full WalletHub report can be found here: https://wallethub.com/edu/safest-states-during-covid/86567
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.