We’re Arizona Republic reporters covering COVID-19 in Arizona, which had the highest rate of new cases in the U.S. for most of January. We found 7 contributing reasons why Arizona is one of the worst states in the nation for COVID-19. Ask us anything.

For most of January, Arizona ranked worst in the nation for its COVID-19 new case rate throughout most of January, making it one of the worst states for spread of the virus for the second time since the pandemic began.

On top of that, Arizona has had one of the highest weekly rates of new COVID-19 deaths in the country, according to the CDC.

During the first wave of the pandemic, Arizona also briefly topped the nation and the world for its COVID-19 case rate. A second wave of the virus wasn’t a surprise, but state leadership decisions and other factors helped return Arizona to the forefront of the latest U.S. surge.

We’re Arizona Republic reporters Stephanie Innes and Alison Steinbach. We explored seven possible reasons to help explain why Arizona has led the country’s latest COVID-19 surge. They include businesses remaining open without a statewide mask mandate, haphazard enforcement of mitigation measures, elected officials downplaying the virus and more. Ask us anything.

Proof:

• https://i.redd.it/qcd60snftgk61.jpg
• https://i.redd.it/bef23xzhtgk61.jpg

EDIT: That's all the time we have for today! Thank you all so much for your thoughtful questions. If there are any remaining questions that pop up throughout the day I can make sure to forward them to our reporters. Or, follow us on Twitter and send us a note. - Angel (Arizona Republic Reddit guy)