These Are the 7 States With the Worst COVID Surges — Best Life - Best Life
For over three months, COVID cases have seen a sustained decline on a national level since the Omicron surge reached its peak on Jan. 14. However, the decrease in infections appears to be slowing, with the national daily average hovering around 30,000 over the past week, according to data from The Washington Post. Meanwhile, some states are already seeing surges in COVID cases as experts begin to warn that another national spike could be imminent.
Fears of an upcoming increase in infections come as cases abroad have spiked due to the spread of the highly transmissible BA.2 Omicron subvariant, which has just become the dominant strain in the U.S. According to The New York Times, in the last two weeks, cases went up by 45 percent in the U.K., 3 percent in Spain, and 94 percent in France.
During a March 27 interview on BBC's Sunday Morning, White House COVID adviser Anthony Fauci, MD, said he expected it was only a matter of time before such spikes would be felt stateside. "We certainly will be seeing an increase in cases. What's going on in Europe and the U.K. has not yet hit the United States. We still are having the decrement of cases, of hospitalizations, and deaths," he explained, adding that the U.S. is already seeing a "little bit less sharp decline" in COVID infections than we had experienced just a week or two ago.
Domestically, the latest viral offshoot was found to be responsible for 54.9 percent of cases and growing, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But reports are also already showing that, as with previous waves of new variants, certain regions are seeing waves earlier than others: In this case, the Northeast is taking the earliest hit with 70 percent of reported cases linked to BA.2, while the South and Mountain West have the fewest with just one-third of new infections, CNN reports.
Read on to see which states have experienced COVID surges of more than 30 percent over the past week as of March 29, according to data from The Washington Post.
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- New cases in the last seven days: 15 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 34 percent
The latest spike in the Empire State has hit certain areas harder than others, including New York City. However, officials remained cautiously optimistic that a wave of hospitalizations was less likely to follow the rise in cases as it did with previous surges due to the nature of the subvariant and the high rate of vaccination.
"The vaccine and booster are our most effective tool against this virus," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on March 27. "I urge New Yorkers not to take for granted the progress we have made in getting vaccinated, there's still more work to do to guard against future case surges."
- New cases in the last seven days: 11 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 39 percent
On March 28, data released by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont showed that the state had added 1,014 new cases over the weekend. The positive test rate was reported as 3.07 percent.
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- New cases in the last seven days: 15 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 41 percent
The recent spike in infections brought the percentage of new cases in Massachusetts back up to the highest levels seen since the second week of February, local Boston CBS affiliate WBZ-TV reports. Wastewater data from the state also showed an increase in the virus.
- New cases in the last seven days: 9 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 50 percent
Even as cases rise in Alabama, hospitalization numbers in the state fell to their lowest point since the earliest days of the pandemic, with just 156 patients reported as of March 22. The state's positive test rate was also reported to be 3.2 percent as of March 23, according to COVID Act Now.
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- New cases in the last seven days: 11 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 52 percent
On March 25, the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) announced that it would be reducing COVID-19 statistic releases to once a month. The state's positive test rate was up 0.3 percent from the previous week to 3.2 percent, while the number of hospitalizations decreased by 11 to 35 during the same time.
- New cases in the last seven days: 17 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 83 percent
Even as cases spike in Texas, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 were still declining by 11 percent and 23 percent, respectively, as of March 29, according to The Post. The state's positive test rate was 2.6 percent as of March 24, according to COVID Act Now.
- New cases in the last seven days: 28 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 156 percent
As of March 25, Colorado's positive test rate was 3.2 percent, according to COVID Act Now. And while hospitalizations from the virus have decreased 45 percent over the past two weeks, deaths have risen 58 percent as of March 28, according to data from The Times.
RELATED: If You Notice This on Your Face, It Could Be an Omicron Symptom.
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