COVID19 - US States From Best To Worst
By Brian WoolfSeptember 8, 2020
If you have spent much time lately viewing or reading headlines of the main stream media (MSM) you would be forgiven for thinking that the US is one of the world's worst Covid-19's "Cot cases."
It isn't-as the following results of our 50 states for the 24 weeks to Aug 25 show. It doesn't mean all is well. We have some states with very disappointing results-and some that are outstanding. As the art of leadership is to first gather the facts before planning the path ahead, this report's goal is to provide some of those facts.
The data is from worldometers.info who receives Covid-19 (CV) data from all states continuously. My data reporting begins on March 10. The little data prior to then is included in that first week. You will see each state's tests, infections (cases), and deaths clearly laid out for interstate comparisons. It provides a definitive benchmark for the future.
But First, Some Perspective
We hear from the MSM how the US lags other nations. For a reality check, I looked at Europe (with its similar cultures, values, health levels, etc as the US) for the same period of this study and found these results (see Table A1).
The US's total death rate (which include other dependent areas besides the 50 states) fits in between Sweden and France. The only major EU country below France that is not on the list is Germany.
However, as you will see in the two tables that follow, 33 states (including two of our most populous, California and Texas) had death rates below France's 0.047%! So, compared to most major players in Europe, two-thirds of our states performed well. Looking ahead? Each state in the next 24 weeks, will be aiming to improve using what they have learned.
States Sorted by Death Rate from Best (Lowest) to Worst
The following two tables have been prepared to compare the performance of our 50 states. Table 1 expresses the relevant comparative data in percentages. Table 2, seeking to give a human aspect when viewing these numbers of sadness, uses actual numbers per week for an average town of 10,000 people in each state. In that town of typical citizens, we see how many citizens were tested, how many were infected (ie, became cases), and how many died, on average, each week. Table 2's final column pictures that average town's deaths in a memorable way: it shows the number of weeks between each CV death in the town. That gives us a clearer feeling for CV's emotional impact in each community in each state. As mentioned earlier, the lower the death rate the greater the number of weeks between deaths.
For readers unfamiliar with converting data to a 10,000 people format, let's explain using Tests in our least-populated state, Wyoming. It's the third state listed. We want to take its 99,431 tests performed over a 24-week period and find the average number of tests per week for 10,000 of the state's citizens. The steps are:
# Tests / Population / 24 (weeks) x 10,000 (to convert to10,000 people) = Answer
ie, 99,431 / 578,758 / 24 x 10,000 = 72 (rounded from 71.5836)
Such weekly averages for a 10,000-person town helps brings numbers to life.
The two Tables follow. No commentary is given, as they are self-explanatory.
Closing Comments
These tables were prepared to give you base data to refer back to in future months. All my Covid tables, reports and commentaries are available on my website www.brianwoolf.com
About the author...
Besides a full business life in retailing, and later, loyalty marketing, the other part of Brian Woolf's life has been filled with diverse interests: particularly speaking (including Toastmasters), travel (including all seven continents), and reading (including history). And he has written seven books sharing what he has learned along the journey. Ask him, two favorite trips? Antarctica and the Nile. Ask him, two favorite books? The Lessons of History (Will & Ariel Durant) and Over the Edge of the World (Laurence Bergreen). He loves learning and sharing.