I honestly think the only state that's really done a good job is Vermont. The other "relatively well" states only look good compared to the very low bar of the country as a whole. Here are some of the reasons Vermont did so well....
"— Vermont reopened slowly. The lockdown it put in place in late March is still gradually being lifted, restaurants and bars are still limited to 50 percent indoor capacity and even outdoor gatherings are still subject to a 150-person limit.
— Local governments have authority to set their own stricter rules. Burlington, the state’s most populous city, reduced its outdoor gathering limit to 25 in late August when college students began returning to nearby campuses.
— The state is also strict about visitors, requiring a two-week quarantine for people arriving from places with higher infection rates. And it invested early in testing and contact tracing and implemented a state-wide mask mandate early on.
“
They took action early, they let science lead, and they were consistent but willing to pivot when the science told them new strategies were needed,” said Trish Riley, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy."
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/14/best-state-responses-to-pandemic-429376
If only we had some national leadership to encourage other states to follow a similar course. It certainly doesn't sound like it was all that radical a plan. Keeping Asian people from coming from China(unless of course they were delivering trade goods..... which is a lot of people btw) wasn't really a good start. Unfortunately the virus doesn't really care if you are Chinese or not.
You do realize there was never a "travel ban", right? Because honestly that's right up there with, "The virus will go away in March when the warmer weather comes" level of denial.