Report: Georgia among slowest states for COVID recovery
(The Center Square) – Georgia is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic slower than most states, a new report shows.
Looking at metrics from July 29 through Aug. 4, financial website WalletHub ranked Georgia the ninth slowest out of the 50 states and District of Columbia for its recovery status.
Georgia was among the states with the lowest amount of COVID-19 vaccines administered and the lowest share of vaccinated people, said the report, which was released Tuesday.
Georgia ranked 48th for COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered and administered and 44th for the share of population that is fully vaccinated, ranking 43rd overall in COVID-19 health metrics. WalletHub also evaluated states’ hospitalization and death rates, hospital staffing, COVID-19-related visits and supply shortages.
Georgia has administered 87,733 does per 100,000 people, the Centers for Diseases and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker shows. Hospitals statewide were at 86.1% capacity Wednesday. WalletHub ranked the state 43rd for its COVID-19 hospital rate.
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday the state would spend an additional $125 million to increase hospital staffing.
In addition to COVID-19 health metrics, WalletHub evaluated states based on leisure and travel activity and the economy and labor market.
Georgia’s economy and labor market are among the quickest to recover, the report said. WalletHub ranked Georgia 13th among other states and the District of Columbia for its economic recovery.
Georgia’s economy is operating at 94% of where it was in early March 2020, according to CNN’s Back-to-Normal Index. The state is 30th in the index among other states. Total weekly consumer spending is still on the mend, however, the WalletHub report said.
Georgia’s unemployment rate in June was 4%. It was more than double (8.4%) at the same time last year.
Georgia’s travel and leisure activity were near the middle of the when compared with others states. WalletHub looked at daily restaurant visits and recreational and retail activity. Analysts also compared dine-in reservations for the week ending Aug.15 to the same week in 2019. Georgia was ranked 31st overall for its travel and leisure activity.
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