Just How COVID Safe Are We in Washington State?

If you are anything like me these days, it has become increasingly difficult to sift through all of the coronavirus stories, memes, reports and opinions that are tossed out onto social media and in the media proper.
Who and what to believe? And how much?

Our peeps at WalletHub.com are at it again and have granulated the data to try and determine which states, based on five measurable metrics, to determine the most and least safe states in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it turns out, Washingtonians (I believe Governor Jay Inslee gets a residual every time I use that word) are among the safest in the union.

Here comes the science. *Note - cue the Ben Affleck shampoo commercial.

Despite only about 5% of the population thus far (as of February 17th) having received a COVID-19 vaccination some states are still in better shape than other based on other mitigating factors. They are:
* Vaccination Rate
* Positive Testing Rate
* Hospitalization Rate
* Death Rate
* Transmission Rate
(Washington, interestingly, has the LOWEST number of positive tests in the U.S. of A.)

Attaching a score to each of these, six experts and doctors in their specialized fields determined that Washington is the 8th safest state overall in the union.

Washington, as well as much of the Pacific Northwest, stack up very well with the rest of the country with Wyoming at #5, Oregon at #7 and Montana at #9. Use this handy, dandy interactive map to scroll over other states to see where they land in relation to us.

Stay safe and rock on! \m/ \m/
Todd E. Lyons, Esquire