MA One Of The Safest States To Reopen School: Report

At least one report agrees with Gov. Charlie Baker and state education officials. Massachusetts is the fourth-safest state in the country to reopen schools, WalletHub said Monday morning.

All New England states were in the top 10, including No. 1 Vermont, No. 2 Maine and No. 5 New Hampshire. But unlike many of its neighbors, Massachusetts didn't benefit from strong infrastructure rankings as much as it did a low risk of COVID-19 infections.

WalletHub ranked the states using 15 metrics across risk of the virus and health and financial infrastructure. Massachusetts was fifth in the former and 21st in the latter.

The Bay State tied for the fewest child COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 children, despite ranking in the middle of the pack in child COVID-19 cases per 100,000 children. And though COVID-19 infections have slowly crept up recently, Massachusetts still has the seventh-fewest COVID-19 cases in the last week per 100,000 residents.

WalletHub also awarded Massachusetts top-five rankings in having the lowest student-to-school nurse ratio and share of children living in crowded housing.

You can see the full rankings here.

Baker has been vocal about school districts at low risk for COVID-19 infections get students back in class in at least a hybrid model. Many districts are still fully remote to start the school year.