Vermont is the safest state as measured by COVID deaths

One out of every 3,436 people in Vermont had died of COVID-19 since data began being kept – the best per-capita figure of any state.

The figure is 1 out of 2,100 in Maine, the fourth-best (Hawaii and Alaska do better) and 1 out of 1,236 in New Hampshire, the ninth-best.

Axios put together a nice state-by-state map for comparison (right here). There’s no really obvious pattern to who does well and who doesn’t.

It’s not rural/urban: States without big cities often do OK, but South Dakota and Mississippi are disasters, where more than 1 in every 500 people died. New York and New Jersey are about the worst in the country, as you’d expect because of the early outbreak around New York City, but Arizona and Louisiana are almost as bad.

It’s not politics, either: Utah has done quite well but equally Trumpian Oklahoma hasn’t, while the People’s Republic of Massachusetts has done very badly but liberal Oregon has done well.