Despite the COVID vaccine rolling out across the U.S., some states are seeing cases of the virus surging, especially as the Delta variant takes hold in less vaccinated regions of the country.

A new report from WalletHub has named Missouri as the most dangerous state in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Missouri has also been identified by health experts as a state of concern for the Delta variant.

Missouri was found to have the second-highest positivity rate for testing just ahead of Nevada. It also came in 48th for hospitalization rate comparisons, making it one of the highest states for hospitalizations. It also ranked 50th in terms of death rates. Its transmission rate was also high, as it sat in a four-way tie with Delaware, Maryland, and New York.

According to the report, Missouri ranked last in terms of safety during the COVID pandemic with Arkansas, Nevada, West Virginia just ahead of it, respectively.

The safest state in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to WalletHub, has been Vermont. It is followed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Hawaii.

The rankings for the report from WalletHub were compiled based on vaccination rates in each state, the number of COVID hospitalizations, transmission and COVID testing, as well as how well each state controlled the pandemic.

The New York Times Vaccination Tracker shows that Missouri has less than half of its total population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at 49.1% in comparison with the safest state in the report, Vermont, at 76.4%.

USA Map Safe
A report from WalletHub shows which cities in the U.S. are the safest and least safe. Pins on a map locate the hometowns of travelers visiting Madras, Oregon on August 18, 2017, the rural central and eastern part of Oregon is hosting dozens of festivals to help manage the crowds of over a million visitors are expected to the region for the Monday August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. Getty Images/ROB KERR
RELATED STORIES
Coronavirus