Every week we see a new set of states dealing with an increase in cases of coronavirus. Across the country, officials have put in place various ways to manage the outbreak, and as a result, the rise and fall of daily cases is unique from region to region. But COVID mortality rates are a different story. The states that have been the most coronavirus-related dead since the pandemic began are not one of today’s hotspots. In fact, they have been the same for months.
The states with the highest death rates were among the first to see the lion’s share of coronavirus cases, when medical experts struggled to figure out how to best treat the deadly infection. It is actually a novel coronavirus, with no similar predecessor. As time goes on, however, states that have seen spikes later have in cases greatly benefited from the medical advances that have been discovered since the beginning of the pandemic. As a result, mortality rates are likely to end much lower in states that are on the rise now in contrast to previous episodes.
There have been nearly 137,000 deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States since August 13th. The following are the five states that have seen the highest rate of COVID death compared to their population size. And for more states that are currently in trouble, check out these 7 states you need to address right now, Harvard researchers say.
