New Jersey comes in 44th in safest states during COVID-19 survey (Opinion)
We keep hearing about the great job Governor Murphy is doing keeping New Jersey safe from COVID-19. It drives his approval rating and allows him to continue to keep us in an eternal public health emergency. It also allows him to decide how long we must live like this. Well, guess what? In a wallet-hub survey on the safest states during COVID-19 New Jersey comes in 44th out of 51 with a score of 54.47.
The survey says, "As the U.S. continues its struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic, staying safe is one of Americans’ top concerns. Safety is also essential for getting the economy back on track, as the lower COVID-19 transmission and deaths are in a state, the more that state is able to eliminate restrictions on businesses."
"The survey compared the 50 states and District of Columbia across five key metrics, rates of COVID-19 transmissions, positive testing, hospitalizations, and death as well as the share of eligible people getting vaccinated."
The survey also says that as of Feb. 17 only 5% of the population has been fully vaccinated receiving both doses. New Jersey is hoping to reach 70% in order to open us up. New Jersey also has the 49th highest positive testing rate.
Coming in at number one with just 288 deaths and a score of 86.52 is Alaska. The least safe state is Ohio with a 29.71 total score. Pennsylvania came in at 34 and New York at 49. The survey also says the blue states are safer than the red states.
See the full list of states here.
The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise. Any opinions expressed are Steve's own. Steve Trevelise is on New Jersey 101.5 Monday-Thursday from 7pm-11pm. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.
LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions
While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.