Why Do Predominantly White States Have the Least Coronavirus Deaths?

Last Updated on August 17, 2022 by Shaun Snapp

Executive Summary

• Nearly all the states with the lowest proportion of Coronavirus deaths are white.
• Why is this the case?

Introduction

The media has covered which states tend to have the highest Coronavirus deaths but has spent little time covering which states have the lowest or lowest proportion of the population with Coronavirus deaths.

References for This Article

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The Highest and Lowest States for Coronavirus Deaths

Notice that most of the states are “diverse” or non-whites. States for which this does not apply as much include Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Now let us review the states with the lowest incidence of Coronavirus deaths.

Notice that with the exception of Hawaii, nearly all of the states have the highest percentage of whites in the country. 

Conclusion

We do not know the answer to this question. We can offer a hypothesis. One reason might be that the states that are mostly white have the lowest degree of interaction with other countries. That is, they have the fewest percentage of people who reside in the state who have left the country and have the fewest number of people visiting their state from other countries. On the list, only one state can be considered major tourism draw to people in other countries — namely Hawaii. However,

Hawaii is a state with a high degree of interaction with Asia — where the virus originated. Yet, they not only have low but currently have the lowest proportion of Coronavirus deaths in its population.

It is often stated that “diversity is a strength.” In the case of the Coronavirus, it is just the opposite. That is, the less diverse the state, the lower the risk of the population of contracting the Coronavirus.