Covid 19 Alert The 10 Riskiest States To Visit A Week After Thanksgiving

Despite widespread warnings from public health experts that Thanksgiving would be a superspreader event, millions of Americans traveled for the holiday weekend. Now, a week later, only two states in the continental U. S. are not in the “high risk” category. If you’re planning to travel in the coming week, it’s prudent to avoid areas of the country that present the highest risk. Along with key metrics such as the number of daily new cases and hospitalizations, consider how individual states are managing the crisis by imposing simple measures like mask mandates. A study published in early September from the University of Washington found that governors’ partisanship was the key determining factor. “The most important predictor is whether a state is led by a Republican governor,” wrote the researchers. “These states were much slower to adopt mandates, if they did so at all.”After a dramatic surge in cases this fall, states now have mask mandates. Notably, since the presidential election in November, three Republican governors — in Utah, Iowa and North Dakota — issued statewide mask mandates. Two of the three have seen dramatic drops in new Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks. Here’s a state-by-state rundown of the riskiest states to visit one week after the Thanksgiving weekend, along with an overview of current Covid-19 protocols. Two weeks ago: No. 2Risk factors: No statewide mask mandate - 116.4 new daily cases per 100,000 people - 47.0% of Covid tests are positiveYou won’t find a governor more anti-mask than South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, dubbed “Covid Kristi” by her detractors. Her state is currently the epicenter of Covid-19 spread. The Mount Rushmore State has recorded 116.4 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people, on a rolling weekly average, according to the Harvard-Brown risk-assessment tool. Any state with over 25 new daily cases per 100,000 people is colored red on the map, which means it is considered “at a tipping point.” South Dakota’s risk level is 366% above that threshold. South Dakota’s percent positive rate is 47%, the second highest in the country, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The percent positive should ideally be under 5%, according the World Health Organization. Nearly half of all Covid tests in the state come back positive, which suggests that South Dakota is not close to getting the virus under control. Two weeks ago: No. 3Risk factors: No statewide mask mandate - 106.6 new daily cases per 100,000 people - 9.4% of Covid tests are positiveLast week, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, a Republican, tested positive for Covid-19. Still, he has not issued a statewide mask mandate. Instead, Gordon has made watered-down recommendations. For example, patrons at salons and other personal-care businesses are required to wear masks “as much as possible.” Face coverings are “recommended” for the general public. Wyoming is currently racking up an average of 106.6 new daily Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people. All data is taken from the source: http://forbes.com Article Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzanner... #covid #newsworld #bbcworldnewstoday #usnewsworldreport#newstodaycnn #newsworldbbc #