Bordering states, different outcomes: Wyoming has 7 COVID-19 deaths, Denver has 248 Covid deaths with 1,150 in Colorado

[Oklazona Bound]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Why not compare Colorado to a highly conservative state closer to it in population size, such as Oklahoma. Or did you find Oklahoma has done a poor job of taking care of the virus even worse that Colorado? After all, the governor of Oklahoma was on Twitter with his kids to come on down to the restaurant where he was at and join them for a good time, while other governors were shutting down their states.

Colorado has almost 4 times the cases and 4 times the deaths that Oklahoma has with just a slightly larger population. And yes the the governor of Oklahoma was out eating while Colorado was busy forcing everyone to stay home. What is the point of bringing that up? Clearly that did not matter. In fact even now Colorado is still averaging 4 times the new cases compared to Oklahoma. Oklahoma is back to work while Colorado is still trying to figure out what to do next.

[Elliott_CA]

While the OP and others trot out Wyoming (chuckle), they ignore the other mostly rural state: Indiana


Indiana death rate: 260
California: 83


Albert Einstein weighs in

[godofthunder9010]

Originally Posted by Elliott_CA

While the OP and others trot out Wyoming (chuckle), they ignore the other mostly rural state: Indiana


Indiana death rate: 260
California: 83


Albert Einstein weighs in

The short version is that both California and Indiana are extreme outliers.

Consider this one: Indiana and Missouri are about the same population. Their biggest metro urban areas -- Kansas City and Indianapolis -- are almost exactly the same population. While neither state is solid Republican, both are more likely to go Republican in any given election than not. Each state sits at about the same latitude and elevation.

I would definitely disagree with characterizing either as a heavily rural state. They're a lot like Ohio or North Carolina or Virginia: A very average mix of urban and rural. If there is such a thing as a "typical US state" they're both exactly that.

Indiana is sitting in 13th place for per capita death toll from the CCP Virus with 260 deaths per million. Missouri is in 26th place with 98 deaths per million. The greater Indianapolis area has 9324 cases and 567 deaths from the virus. Kansas City metro area has a much lighter 1977 cases and 91 deaths. For two states and two cities that are so remarkably similar, why are the outcomes so vastly different?

If we look at the states with the highest death rates, they're almost all among the bluest states in the country. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc. I do find that at least interesting, but just as I can't make sense out of why Missouri and Indiana are so vastly different, I'm can't draw any clear conclusions from the fact that bluest states got hit the hardest. It's interesting to note and I'm sure it will get picked apart by statisticians later. Pointing to a handful of outlier anomalies doesn't change the overall trend.