Massachusetts has lowest COVID-19 transmission rate in US, data shows

BOSTON — Massachusetts has the lowest transmission rate of any state in the country, according to a data scientist and the COVID tracking project.

The Commonwealth continues to see improvements in its numbers, with just 149 new cases and 17 new deaths reported Monday.

According to the website RT.live, compiled by data scientist Tom Vladeck and Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Massachusetts has a transmission rate of 0.67.

The site tracks COVID-19 transmission rates, called Rt. The variable represents the number of people that one infected person transmits the virus to.

Governor Charlie Baker spoke about the importance of keeping that number low last week.

As for the rest of New England, Connecticut has the second best transmission rate at 0.72, followed by Rhode Island and Maine. Rhode Island has now tested 20 percent of its population, the largest percentage of any U.S. state.

Both New Hampshire and Vermont have Rt numbers of right around 1, which is the threshold that signifies rapid spread of the virus.

Hawaii has the highest transmission rate at more than 1.5.

In total, 31 states are at 1.0 or higher, including the states seeing big surges right now including Arizona, Florida and Texas.

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RESOURCES:

- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information

- Boston Coronavirus Information

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