Washington’s Coronavirus Response Ranks Among Best In U.S.

SEATTLE — Washington's strategy to curb the spread of coronavirus in 2020 has been ranked among the most effective in the nation in a new analysis by UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute.

The most effective states, according to research published in the institute’s 2020 Inclusiveness Index, were those that put in place mitigation measures based on scientific data.

It comes as little surprise then that Washington performed well, considering Gov. Jay Inslee and other top state leader's repeated insistence that the Evergreen State would follow science in creating COVID-19 safety guidelines — even if some of those restrictions were controversial at the time.

"Our efforts are working in the state of Washington," said Gov. Jay Inslee at a conference on vaccine distribution Wednesday. "They've been working because they're based on science. They have been working because we made priority decisions that have respected people's lives."

Berkeley's rankings ultimately give Washington the 7th best COVID-19 response in the country. It's not the first time Washington has been celebrated for its success containing the pandemic, just last month the New York Times lauded the Seattle metro for having the lowest death rate out of the countries 20 largest metropolitan regions. Washington also has the 7th lowest COVID-19 death rate per capita out of all 50 states — something the governor also touched on Wednesday.

"This is significant because it means we have saved thousands of lives," Inslee said. "In fact, if we had the same fatality rate as [New Jersey], we would have had an additional 15,000 Washingtonians lose their lives."

Berkeley's annual Inclusiveness Index typically ranks states and countries on their levels of inclusivity using six measures: outgroup violence, political representation, income inequality, anti-discrimination laws, rates of incarceration, and immigration and asylum policies, but added the COVID-19 response to its 2020 index.

“What is clear, however, is that the pandemic has had a severe and disproportionate impact on communities of color, the elderly, and people with disabilities,” the report says. “Moreover, the response to the pandemic has revealed or exacerbated dysfunctions in our health care systems and governance.”

That's another likely reason Washington performed well in the ranking. Though the state has had its ups and downs on the issue of equitable vaccine distribution, equity has been a recurring topic for the state's top health leaders.

"We are committed to taking immediate action to improve our vaccine distribution efforts from an equity perspective, and ensuring equitable and culturally responsive actions, particularly for communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19," said Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah at a conference on equity in February. "We will continue to make this a top priority moving forward."

To compile the ranking, the Othering & Belonging Institute measured the performance of all 50 states and 172 countries primarily based on three factors: rates of infection, deaths and testing.

The data revealed a trend: state governments that were more aggressive in issuing mask mandates, stay-at-home orders, and physical distancing rules fared better than states that did not.

Currently, just 31 states have mask mandates, according to the AARP. That includes Washington, which had one of the earlier mandates, going into effect on June 29, 2020.

As the state with the first publicized COVID-19 death, Washington was also ahead of the curve with stay-at-home orders, with Gov. Jay Inslee signing his 'Stay Home, Stay Healthy' order on March 23, 2020 — following similar orders in Oregon and California.

That said, Washington still could've done better. Vermont, Alaska, and Maine were the three most effective states in responding to the coronavirus pandemic last year, the analysis said.

On the other end of the spectrum, the state with the poorest response to the virus according to the institute's measures was South Dakota, followed by Iowa and Mississippi.

The worst-performing states, which also included Arizona and New Jersey, saw significant outbreaks among communities of color and other vulnerable residents. In South Dakota, one out of every 500 residents died from COVID-19 last year, the report said.

Globally, the three most successful responses to COVID-19 came from the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, and Iceland. Other successful countries profiled in the report include New Zealand, Vietnam and Rwanda.

The bottom three countries on the list were San Marino, Montenegro and Belgium, all small European countries.

The United States, then led by President Donald Trump, ranked 161 out of 172 countries, placing it among the bottom 6 percent of countries.

Brazil and the United Kingdom were also near the bottom of the scale, scoring rankings of 155 and 141, respectively.