Updated: 11:36 AM EDT Apr 7, 2021
Maryland is ranked among the top 10 most effective states in responding to the coronavirus pandemic last year, according to a new study by the University of California, Berkeley's Othering and Belonging Institute.The study found state government responses varied greatly. Some state governments tended to oppose mass shutdowns of the economy to slow the spread of the virus, while others were more aggressive in ordering shelter-in-place mandates and social distancing rules.Vermont, Alaska and Maine were the three most effective states in responding to the pandemic, the study found, while the poorest response to the virus came from South Dakota, Iowa and Mississippi.Maryland ranked ninth in the study.Out of the 172 countries in the study, the three most successful responses to COVID-19 came from the United Arab Emirates, Denmark and Iceland. Other successful countries that were profiled in the report include New Zealand, Vietnam and Rwanda.According to the study, the countries responded quickly and aggressively with contact tracing, testing and isolation of cases.The bottom three countries on the list included San Marino, Montenegro and Belgium.The United States scored a ranking of 161, putting it in the bottom 6 percentile of the scale.