Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
Dr. Yppej, as usual, uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts — for support rather than illumination. I would fail them from any data analysis course I've ever taught.

But, if one wants to cherry pick, without any context or delving into sample differences, hey:

Deaths per million:

San Juan County, WA 0
Vermont 729
Hawaii 757
Maine 1088
Utah 1166
Alaska 1251
Washington 1283
Oregon 1318
New Hampshire 1347
Mississippi 3490
Mississippi has the highest rate of obesity in the nation. Research shows that covid-19 stores itself in fat cells and attacks surrounding tissues. That is why obese people are disproportionately affected by it.

Advanced age also correlates to bad outcomes. Utah and Alaska have very young populations compared to the rest of the country.

There are many factors in covid deaths, but mask wearing does not correlate to deaths.

Covid death rates by state, greatest to least, N = never had a state mask mandate; Y = did at least some of the time:

Mississippi - N
Alabama - N
New Jersey - Y
Louisiana - Y
Arizona - N
Oklahoma - N
New York - Y
Arkansas - Y
Georgia - N
Florida - N
Massachusetts - Y
West Virginia - Y
Rhode Island - Y
South Carolina - N
Michigan - Y
South Dakota - N
Pennsylvania - Y
Indiana - N
Montana - N
Nevada - Y
North Dakota - N
New Mexico - Y
Tennessee - N
Kentucky - N
Wyoming - N
Texas - N
Missouri - N
Connecticut - Y

Do you see the pattern? There isn't one.