Thread by @IHME_UW

All US states struggled during the pandemic, but were outcomes across states equal? Not according to analysis from @UW’s IHME examining state-by-state comparisons of health outcomes, education loss, & economic performance from Jan 1, 2020-July 31, 2022 🧵 bit.ly/COVID_By_State

The research examined how 5 🔑 areas affected each state’s pandemic performance:
-Social, racial & economic inequities
-Health care capacity
-Political influence
-COVID-19 mandates
-Economic & educational trade-offs

Did your state’s government make use of healthcare services for COVID-19 vaccinations?

Among states that voted Democrat in 2020, states with stronger health systems had the highest rates of vaccine uptake, but not among states that voted Republican.

Findings from a new study about state-to-state COVID-19 disparities suggest that states with robust health care that utilized the vaccination services & treatments performed better during the pandemic.

Read the authors’ policy suggestions here» bit.ly/COVID_By_State

So what were the economic and educational trade-offs?

States with higher COVID infection & death rates had 👉 smaller drop in employment.

On the other end, states with the lowest infection & death rates had
- better access to quality healthcare
- more trust between people
- lower poverty
- higher vax rates
- high trust in each other & govt
Seen in #Maine, #Hawaii (147 per 100K) & #NewHampshire (215 deaths per 100k)

So what was the trade-off in these states?
States that aggressively fought COVID-19 and had fewer infections to show for it, did not have better or worse economic productivity between Jan 1, 2020 and July 31, 2022, but they did have larger increases in unemployment.

#WestVirginia’s cumulative death rate (highest across all states), was nearly 5x that of #Hawaii & more than 2x that of #NewHampshire (2 lowest death rates). If all state death rates were that of New Hampshire, it’s estimated that there would be more than 500k FEWER COVID deaths.

Why this data matters: Allows us to identify disparities in the pandemic response by state & gain better insight into the potential trade-offs between policy mandates that effectively reduced infections but may have been associated with economic & educational trade-offs

What actions can be done to prevent this from happening in the future?

Action looks like improved policy, better preparedness, earlier action at a more localized level, engaging advocates, and improving public trust. end/🧵

Read the study: bit.ly/COVID_By_State