Is Florida passive in fighting the coronavirus pandemic? Survey has some answers
A new survey echoed what many are saying about the Sunshine State: Florida is not doing enough to combat the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey by WalletHub, a personal finance website based in Washington, ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia for aggressiveness against the coronavirus.
Researchers looked at 46 key metrics that included state legislation on prevention and containment, tested cases of COVID-19 per capita, state and local public health labs per capita, share of workers with access to paid sick leave, total public health emergency preparedness funding per capita, and share of the workforce in affected industries.
How Florida ranks
Florida ranked 36th overall — below average, dead last in the nation in state and local public health laboratories per capita.
On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed back on calls for a statewide stay-at-home order.
“You simply cannot lock down our society with no end in sight,’’ DeSantis said at a teleconference from the governor’s office in Tallahassee, where there are six cases of COVID-19 in Leon County.
DeSantis said he is willing to work with selective communities to impose restrictions if they are “sustainable for the long term.”
Miami Beach became the first city in Miami-Dade to enact a stay-at-home order that went into effect Tuesday.
“It is past time to intervene to slow transmission [in Florida],” Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told reporters on Monday.
WalletHub’s survey also found that Florida was 28th in tested cases of COVID-19 per capita.
According to the Florida Department of Health, there were more than 15,000 total tests given in the state as of Tuesday morning. Of these, 1,412 were positive and 13,172 were negative with more than 1,000 results still pending. There were 18 deaths so far in Florida.
In addition, the aggressiveness survey said Florida ranked 36th for public hospital system quality; second in its share of employment from small businesses; 40th in population density; 34th in its share of workers with access to paid sick leave; and 46th for total public health emergency preparedness funding per capita.
Most aggressive state in COVID-19 fight
According to the survey, California has been the most aggressive state in the battle against the coronavirus.
“Some of the key reasons why California is the most aggressive state against the coronavirus include the closure of schools, bars and restaurants in the state, as well as the statewide shelter-in-place order currently in effect. California is also one of the states now requiring early prescription refills,” said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.
Least aggressive state in COVID-19 fight
Mississippi, the WalletHub survey said.
“The state-level measures that Mississippi has taken during the coronavirus pandemic have been relatively small. For example, the state has not closed bars or restaurants, while many other states have. Plus, Mississippi lags behind other states in COVID-19 tests administered per capita,” Gonzalez said.
The survey results were released Tuesday.
Top 5
▪ Most aggressive states
1. California
2. Rhode Island
3. Maryland
4. New Hampshire
5. New Jersey
▪ Least aggressive states
1. Mississippi
2. Nevada
3. Tennessee
4. Idaho
5. Arkansas
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 11:42 AM.
