BOISE, Idaho — Editor's note: The video posted above addresses social distancing, one of the preventive measures promoted by various orders and directives in Idaho and other states.
When it comes to taking aggressive measures to fight the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Idaho ranks 48th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to rankings released Tuesday morning by WalletHub, a finance website.
The states are ranked based on 46 metrics, divided among three broader categories. The categories and some of the metrics are listed below:
- Prevention and containment - This is the most heavily weighted among the three categories, making up 60 percent of the score, it's also where Idaho fared the worst. Metrics include the number of labs per capita; the number of COVID-19 tests per capita, as well as confirmed cases and deaths; public health emergency preparedness funding; statewide foreclosure/eviction freezes; restrictive measures such as curfews or statewide school closings, bans on large gatherings, shelter-in-place orders.
- Risk factors and infrastructure - Metrics include influenza and pneumonia death rate; at-risk population; poverty rate; population density; hospital beds per capita; rate of uninsured persons; food insecurity rate.
- Economic impact - the most heavily-weighted metrics include the shares of the workforce and GDP that are in the hospitality and food service, arts & entertainment, recreation, and transportation fields; also, ratio of part-time to full-time workers in the workforce; share of employment from small businesses; state budget legislation in response to the outbreak; and balance of a state's "rainy-day" fund.
In the prevention and containment category, Idaho ranked 50th. The state was around the middle of the pack on risk factors and infrastructure - ranking 22nd. When it comes to economic impact, Idaho actually ranked among the top states, at number 10.
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Overall, the state ranked as having the "most aggressive" measures against the coronavirus is California.
"Some of the key reasons why California is the most aggressive state against the coronavirus include the closure of schools, bars and restaurants in the state, as well as the statewide shelter-in-place order currently in effect. California is also one of the states now requiring early prescription refills," said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.
Washington, another hard-hit state in the West, ranks 21st. Oregon ranks 37th. One of the West's more aggressive states, according to the survey, is Utah, ranked 19th. Colorado ranked 9th.
States ranked less aggressive than Idaho include Nevada, at number 50.
Tennessee was ranked 49th, and Mississippi was ranked 51st.
The rankings are based on data available by 12 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time on Monday, March 23.
That's important to note because states' responses have continued to develop from hour to hour.
It wasn't until almost 6 p.m. Monday when Idaho's State Board of Education ordered all public schools, including charter schools, to implement "soft closures" until April 20. While services will continue, all student learning is being done through remote methods, such as online classes.
The survey also did not take into account measures taken by local governments,independent of state orders.
At KTVB, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.ktvb.com/coronavirus
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