FILE PHOTO: Sunrise over the towns of Millville and Providence in Cache Valley.
LOGAN – In a recent study on states’ responses to COVID-19, Utah ranked first “by a considerable margin,” according to state Sen. Chris Wilson (R-Dist. 25).
“While other states enforced burdensome regulations,” Wilson said, “we focused on providing a safe avenue for Utahns to return to work and school.
“Our tactics helped us safely navigate COVID-19, quickly recover from the economic downturn and provide the best learning environment for our students in the classroom.”
The study was conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, focusing on health outcomes, economic performance throughout the pandemic and impact on education.
Utah came out on top in all categories.
“Because of your efforts to protect the most vulnerable and continue with life as we know it,” Wilson said in his April newsletter to constituents, “we came out of the pandemic with one of the lowest case fatality rates, the lowest unemployment rate in state history, a booming economy and kids learning in the classroom.”
The study was conducted by Casey B. Mulligan, an economic professor at the University of Chicago; Phil Kerpen of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity; and Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation.
“The COVID-19 pandemic was distinct from other previous health pandemics,” said Mulligan in the introduction to the study, “in the degree to which we saw government intervention in the economy and suspension of individual freedoms.”
Those policies included lockdowns, curfews, mask and vaccine mandates, mandatory business closures, school shutdowns and so on.
The study by Mulligan et al compared COVID-19 outcomes in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of three variables: the economy, education and mortality.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board called it “… a revealing study that belies much of the conventional medical and media wisdom during the pandemic, especially in its first year when severe lockdowns were described as the best and only moral policy.”
While it is no surprise that government officials and most citizens were willing to sacrifice income and some normal freedoms in response to the pandemic, the study found that states that withdrew most from economic activity did not significantly improve health by doing so.
“Lockdowns in Europe and the United States only reduced COVID-19 mortality by 0.2 percent on average,” Mulligan said. “We found that in-person workplaces were often safer, in terms of COVID-19 transmission, than households were due to the additional prevention measures taken by workplaces.”
Mulligan’s three-variable index gave Utah a score of 3.64. Other states in the Top 10 were Nebraska, Vermont, Montana, South Dakota, Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, Arkansas and Idaho with scores ranging from 3.25 to 1.63.
At the other end of the index were New Jersey, the District of Columbia, New York, New Mexico, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Connecticut and Pennsylvania with scores ranging from -3.61 to -1.45.
“Thank you for your efforts over the past two years,” Wilson told his constituents. “You showed the nation what the Beehive State is all about – hard work and helping our neighbors.”