The Influence of Sustainability on COVID-19 Death Rates by State in the USA

This paper investigates the role that sustainability played in shaping interstate difference in pandemic outcomes among the 50 states of the USA, in terms of standardized death rate from COVID-19 and excess death rates. Political ideology is currently a popular possible explanation for discrepancies among states in pandemic outcomes, given that Republican states tended to have higher death rates compared to Democratic ones. Additionally, partisan politics have been criticized for hindering the US pandemic response, especially in the early stages of the pandemic. However, this study demonstrates that the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) index may serve as a more significant predictor of the death and excess death rates among the US states than political affiliation. This suggests that it was not "red" or "blue," but rather "green" that was the most important factor in determining COVID-19 mortality. Pandemic lessons are lessons of sustainability.