The 50 states and their governors and legislators made many of their own pandemic policy choices to mitigate the damage from the virus.

This study is a report card of how pandemic health, economy, and policy varied across the 50 states. It examines three variables: health outcomes, economic performance throughout the pandemic, and impact on education. 

The authors rank Arizona 37th overall (considering all 3 factors), giving Arizona a grade of D. Not surprisingly, Arizona was the absolute worst in the country in the health component (51st) because, according to their metric, Arizona has had the highest per-capita COVID death rate in the country.

A Final Report Card on the States’ Response to COVID-19