The COVID-19 pandemic is in its fourth wave in America. Despite vaccinations, the numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths are at or near all-time highs in many states and counties. America remains one of the hardest-hit nations in the world, and by some measures it is at the top of the list. There have been 41,255,867 confirmed cases in the United States, which is 18% of the world total. Fatal cases in America total 667,528, or about 15% of the global figure. These numbers are high despite huge outbreaks in highly populated countries such as India and Brazil.
To combat the spread of the virus more aggressively, President Biden has put strict vaccination measures in place for federal employees and federal contractors. These rules extend to midsized and large businesses.
What are reasonable measures to decide whether states are emerging from the pandemic? Certainly, the numbers of cases and deaths are on the list. Unemployment needs to be as well. WalletHub has created its own system for rating recovery by state. In “States That Are Recovering the Quickest From COVID-19,” WalletHub looked at 17 measures. These included the percentage of the population that is vaccinated, the share of available vaccines used, the rate at which people have tested positive for COVID-19, hospital data, restaurant and park data and information on employment, gross domestic product and consumer spending.
To sum up their methodology:
In order to determine the states recovering the quickest from COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) COVID Health, 2) Leisure & Travel and 3) Economy & Labor Market.
The report shows the sparsely populated state of South Dakota ranks first on the list of recovering states. Most of the other best recovering states are in the sparsely populated Plains States or the Northeast.
Here are the 10 states recovering the fastest from the COVID-19 pandemic:
- South Dakota
- Maine
- Iowa
- Utah
- New Hampshire
- Nebraska
- Vermont
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- Michigan
Click here to see which states have the most vaccinated people.
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