Why The State Says A Study Inaccurately Ranked Ohio Last In COVID-19 Safety

Safety is key for many Americans as the world continues its work to ward off COVID-19.

Ohio might not be the best place for safety during the pandemic.

That’s according to WalletHub, a personal finance site, which released a ranking of the safest states during the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday (February 18).

That list has Ohio coming in at dead last — but state officials deny that the Buckeye State is unsafe.

WalletHub researchers sought to find the safest states during the COVID-19 pandemic (plus D.C.) by comparing five key metrics. That includes rates of transmission, positive tests, hospitalization, death and the share of the eligible population getting vaccinated, WalletHub explains.

According to that study, Ohio is No. 51.

But Gov. Mike DeWine’s office disputed the ranking to cleveland.com.

Dan Tierney, press secretary for DeWine, called the WalletHub study "flawed" because it miscounted the recent "death reconciliation process" as Ohio worked to correct COVID-19 death data.

“These points of context matter,” Tierney said.

Thousands of COVID-19 deaths could have gone unreported, the Ohio Department of Health said on February 10. As the state worked to reconcile data, numbers likely makes WalletHub’s analysis inaccurate, according to cleveland.com. WalletHub used COVID tracking project data from February 10 through 16, and will recalibrate the study at the next update.

According to WalletHub’s latest ranking, here are the 10 safest states:

1. Alaska
2. Hawaii
3. Maine
4. North Dakota
5. Wyoming
6. Wisconsin
7. Oregon
8. Washington
9. Montana
10. Minnesota

Read the full list here.

Photo: Getty Images