Report: Florida Among States that Handled Pandemic Best; New York Among Worst

Florida is among the states that handled the Chinese coronavirus the best, receiving an A rating, while New York, which the establishment media continually praised, is among the worst, garnering an F, a Committee to Unleash Prosperity (CUP) study revealed.

On Monday, CUP released what it described as the “most comprehensive analysis to date on how states handled the COVID-19 crisis,” published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. It analyzed three key aspects in each state, including coronavirus mortality, the economy, and education throughout the pandemic.

“It answers the question: how did states do in balancing the health of their citizens, allowing their economies to remain operational and keeping job losses low, and keeping their schools open so that school-aged children did not suffer long term educational setbacks,” the press release states:

The study verifies other studies which have found that locking down businesses, stores, churches, schools, and restaurants had almost no impact on health outcomes across states. States with strict lockdowns had virtually no better performance in Covid death rates than states that remained mostly open for business.

The study also found that keeping schools closed had almost no impact on the death rates of children or adults, but it did severe damage to the educational progress of students.

Considering all of these metrics, top performing states with A ratings include Utah, which came in first place with an A+ rating, followed by Nebraska (A+), Vermont (A+), Montana (A), South Dakota (A), Florida (A), New Hampshire (A), Maine (A), and Arkansas (A). Details show Utah, for example, with an industry-adjusted unemployment rate of 1.5 percent, with states such as Florida boasting just 2.1 percent. The categories also showed an in-person school percentage, with A states such as Arkansas with the highest percentage — 96.8 percent. Florida came closely behind with 96.2 percent. 

The metrics also showed age and metabolic health adjusted coronavirus deaths per 100,000. Vermont saw the lowest per capita number in the A group with 155.5.

F-rating states include some of the most left-wing states in the country, which embraced draconian lockdown restrictions and pushed coercive vaccine mandates and extended mask mandates.

New Jersey comes in dead last with an F rating, but other F-rated states include Illinois (F), California (F), New Mexico (F), and New York (F-). While not a state, Washington, DC, also ranked F-, coming in second to last behind the Garden State. 

Per the study: 

We now know from the responses across countries that the U.S. federal government (and most governments around the world) made many tragic mistakes in responding to Covid 19.  But one of the wisest policy decisions was to ultimately let the 50 states and their governors and legislators make their own pandemic response policies.   Federalism worked.  States learned from one another over time about what policies worked most and least effectively in terms of containing the virus while minimizing the negative effects of lockdown strategies on businesses and children.  

The results are particularly notable given the establishment media’s long-documented obsession with comparing blue states, such as California and New York, to Florida throughout the pandemic, as left-wing activists and politicians continually criticized the Florida governor for refusing to issue a statewide mask mandate and prioritizing personal liberty and in-person learning for school children. Yet, for months, the Sunshine State continued to report fewer coronavirus cases per capita than pro-restriction blue states — a fact largely ignored by the establishment media and officials, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

Review the full study here.