Coronavirus: Study says California is most-aggressive state fighting pandemic

As the fight against coronavirus shows no signs of letting up, a new study looking at responses to the pandemic says that California is putting in the most-aggressive effort of any U.S. state against the ongoing health crisis.

According to data compiled by financial information and resource site WalletHub, California ranks No.1 among all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its policies and steps to cut down on the spread of coronavirus based on a list of 46 different measurable metrics. Among the factors WalletHub considered were a state’s tested cases of coronavirus per capita, school closures, intensive care unit beds, and its shelter-in-place policies.

Californians have been living under a shelter-in-place edict since last week, when Gov. Gavin Newsom said all state residents should stay at home as much as possible and remain at least six feet away from others, and that only essential businesses like grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants offering take out food could remain open. On Monday, Newsom said the statewide social distancing methods could remain in place for up to three more months. California also surpassed 2,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Monday.

In addition to giving California the No. 1 overall ranking for its coronavirus-fighting efforts, WalletHub said California was tops for among all states for its share of workers with access to paid sick leave, No. 5 for epidemiology workforce per capita, 13th for public healthcare spending per capita and 14th for state and local public health laboratories per capita.

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Among the top-ranked states, WalletHub said California was followed by Rhode Island, Maryland, New Hampshire and New Jersey. The five lowest-ranked states were Arkansas, Idaho, Tennessee, Nevada and Mississippi.