Iowa Is Among The Top States With Fewest Covid-19 Restrictions
It was announced on Wednesday, that Iowa's governor, Kim Reynolds is lifting capacity restrictions on Iowa businesses starting on Friday. In eastern Iowa, the number of reported cases seems to be leveling off, but is the easing of further restrictions the right thing to do? I'll guess we'll see over the next couple of months.
In the meantime, WalletHub released a report studying "the states with the fewest coronavirus restrictions" and Iowa actually fell one spot from its #10 ranking in May and now sits at 11th overall. As mentioned, since the governor is lifting even more restrictions starting Friday, this ranking will probably bump back up into the top 10. But is that a good thing? See the graphic below, Iowa is ranked 11th for fewest restrictions, but ranked 36th in the Covid-19 death rate ranking, that's bad.
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 14 key metrics. The data set ranges includes whether child-care programs and restaurants have re-opened, requirements to wear a face mask in public, large gathering restrictions, and the presence or absence of a “shelter-in-place” order. All of these have been eased or we just never had in the first place. Click on the map below to see how other states ranked.
The states with the least restrictions include South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. The states with the most restrictions are New Jersey, California and New Hampshire. Public health officials have warned of a possible resurgence of COVID-19 this fall or winter, but we could see a spike in cases much sooner than that. We won't know for weeks whether the recent mass protests will cause a spike in coronavirus cases. When you have hundreds or thousands of people gathered together, you have the possibility of a so-called "super-spread" event, where one infected person sets off a chain reaction infecting many more. Only time will tell.