Georgia is way stressed over the coronavirus, study says. Only one state ranks higher
The coronavirus crisis has put undue stress on the U.S. economy, hospitals and end-of-life industries. Many Americans are feeling the weight of it, too, as the ongoing pandemic has drastically changed people’s way of life.
A new analysis by global agency network TOP Data shows just how stressed residents in each state are about the fast-moving virus.
According to the “Stress Index Report,” Georgia, Mississippi and Iowa are among the highest ranked states when it comes to COVID-19 anxieties, with the Peach State coming in at No. 2. Montana took the top spot for the most stressed state in the nation, the analysis showed.
Using metadata from online searches, the agency was able to gauge people’s overall stress levels, because “knowing what a certain group of people are most searching for creates a window into what they’re thinking and when they’re thinking it,” researchers wrote.
Each state was then ranked on a scale of 1-100 with 100 being the most stressed, according to the agency’s website.
“Between March 26 and April 2, TOP Data analyzed the prevalence of certain search terms across specific geographical areas,” TOP Data founder Ben Kaplan told McClatchy News in a statement. “Those search terms ranged from information on unemployment, sheltering in place, social distancing, medical information, and food availability.”
Based on the data, Montana earned a stress index score of 100. Georgia and Mississippi scored 69 and 63, respectively. Iowa earned a score of 49.
With the data, the agency was also able to uncover “some interesting correlations between levels of stress and shelter-in-place orders,” said Kaplan.
The report found that of the top 10 most stressed states, only one (Michigan) had implemented shelter-in-place orders before the study began in late March. Montana, which topped the list of most stressed states, didn’t have one in place until March 28, two days after the study began, according to the agency.
“This suggests that there is a negative correlation between the level of stress a state’s search data reveals and whether or not that state had taken these proactive measures to curb the spread of the virus,” researchers wrote.
Moreover, TOP says the data suggests that a lack of preventative measures leads the coronavirus-weary public to seek answers on their own.
“This correlation could play out in other ways today as discussions over how and when to lift shelter-in-place orders and reopen state economies cause uncertainty and confusion,” the report continued.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. had nearly 840,000 coronavirus cases and over 46,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University database. Globally, the virus has infected more than 2,600,000 and resulted in over 182,000 deaths, data shows.
The other stressed states in the top 10 include, in order: Oklahoma, Washington D.C., Minnesota, New Hampshire, Arizona and Michigan.
New Jersey, Delaware and New Mexico were among the least stressed states in the nation, the analysis found.
Another key finding from the report is that Americans are nearly 13 times more stressed “about the current economy than they were during the Great Recession,” which lasted from 2007 to 2009.
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 6:50 PM.