A recent ranking of states based on safeguards in place to contain the COVID-19 pandemic places Maryland at number one.
The study conducted by WalletHub ranked every state based on five metrics including rates of transmission, positivity rates, hospitalizations, deaths, and percentage of eligible residents vaccinated. Maryland led all states with a score of 80.79, with several neighboring jurisdictions including the District of Columbia (74.26) and Pennsylvania (71.41) also ranking in the top 10. Delaware (53.32), Virginia (52.33), and West Virginia (31.9) all ranked in the bottom half of the study.
Although its aggregate score was best in the country, Maryland did not rank among the top five in any key metric. The District of Columbia did register as having the highest vaccination rate (tied among five states) and lowest death rate, but also had the highest transmission rate (tied among three states).
In a previous WalletHub ranking published in December of 2021, Maryland had placed seventh in the country, whereas the District of Columbia had taken the top spot. According to the Maryland COVID-19 Data Dashboard, Maryland currently has a positivity rate of 4.54% and 170 hospitalizations due to COVID- a stark contrast from January of this year when positivity rates and hospitalizations had reached all-time highs of 29.98% and 3,462, respectively.
