Coronavirus Study: Maryland Among Top 20 States Where Self-Isolating Is Most Difficult

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The coronavirus pandemic has introduced social distancing measures across the United States in order to slow the spread of the disease. For some states, those measures are relatively easy to abide by. In others, like Maryland, self-isolating can be a bit more difficult. A study conducted by the financial site WalletHub places Maryland squarely among the Top 20 states (18th overall) in which social distancing is more of a struggle.

The site's methodology included three different scores for each state that were dependent upon thirteen other variables to determine which states were the most and least difficult to self isolate in. The three categories are Social Environment, Time Spent on Social Activities and Money Spent on Social Activities and they were based on "ranges from whether residents have supportive relationships to how non-essential travel has changed due to the pandemic and how much consumers spent on social activities before COVID-19."

Maryland ranked 21st and 24th respectively in the first two categories, but was 16th in money spent on social activities ranking. The state was just behind Washington D.C. which ranked 16th overall, but was well ahead of several other Mid-Atlantic states like Delaware (26th), Pennsylvania (33rd), New Jersey (39th) and New York (41st).

For the full results and methodology of the study, you can head here.

For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.