CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – Despite rising vaccination numbers, West Virginia is one of the most dangerous states in terms of COVID-19.
The national vaccination rate is around 55%, but West Virginia drags at the bottom with the lowest national vaccination rate at only 48%. Although the number of active cases has decreased rapidly in the state over the past week, West Virginia DHHR is still reporting between 1 and 2 thousand new COVID cases every day.
In order to identify the safest states during the COVID-19 pandemic, a WalletHub study compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key metrics:
- Vaccination Rate
- Positive Testing Rate
- Hospitalization Rate
- Death Rate
- Transmission Rate
The study revealed that, overall, West Virginia is the 49th most safe state during the pandemic with only Idaho and Alabama considered more dangerous.
West Virginia landed at the very worst in several categories with the lowest overall vaccination rate and next-to highest overall death rate, a correlation that cannot be ignored. West Virginia was also 48th for highest COVID transmission rate.
West Virginia hospitals are overflowing, with 9 WVU Medicine hospitals operating at crisis-level standard of care. Events in West Virginia are being cancelled not just because of worries about COVID transmission, but for fear of overwhelming hospitals. Bridge Day, an annual festival on the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, W.Va., has decided to not allow BASE jumping this year because of a shortage of emergency medical care.
In a virtual COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, Governor Jim Justice, again, pushed for West Virginians to receive their COVID vaccines, not for themselves, but for the safety of others.
To see the DHHR COVID numbers for West Virginia, click here.
To see the full rankings and methodology, click here.
To see COVID vaccine information, click here.
