Missouri is among top five states with fewest coronavirus restrictions, report says

When it comes to restrictions due to coronavirus, Missouri doesn’t have many compared to the rest of the country, according to a new report from WalletHub.

The Show Me state ranks fourth on the personal finance website’s list of states with the fewest coronavirus restrictions.

Missouri has 8,754 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 358 deaths as of May 4, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

South Dakota has the fewest restrictions in the country, according to the report, followed by Utah and North Dakota. Idaho rounded out the top five.

Rankings are based on data as of May 4, WalletHub said.

The report’s authors assessed a number of factors, including mask requirements in public, restrictions on large gatherings, restrictions on travel and reopening of restaurants and bars. Then they weighted each category.

For instance, strictness of shelter-in-place orders was assigned quadruple weight while suspension of legislative sessions was assigned half weight.

States were given a score in each category that represented its response, according to the report. In the restaurants and bars category, for example, states that never closed bars and restaurants received zero points, states that had closed but reopened for limited dine-in service received half a point and states that closed except for delivery and take out received a full point.

WalletHub tabulated the weighted average across metrics to determine an overall score for each state then used those scores to rank them.

Because Missouri has not restricted travel or required residents to wear masks in public, the state ranked first in both categories, according to WalletHub.

It also ranked third for the fewest large-gathering restrictions as well as for reopening of restaurants and bars, the report said.

Missouri’s lowest ranking was 15th in the reopening of non-essential businesses category, according to Wallethub, meaning it had more restrictions in that category.

Which states have the most coronavirus restrictions?

Hawaii, according to the report, followed by Rhode Island, Washington D.C., Illinois and Pennsylvania.

This story was originally published May 5, 2020 at 8:23 AM.