The first official week of summer has brought about a change in the trajectory of COVID in the U.S. While cases remain far below their highest points seen in January, new infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant are continuing to spread. Now, some states are seeing considerable COVID surges as officials struggle to vaccinate certain parts of the population, according to data from The Washington Post.
On a national level, the U.S. has seen its seven-day average of new COVID cases increase by 15 percent as of June 29. But according to experts such as Scott Gottlieb, MD, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, not all areas can expect to see the same jump in cases in the coming weeks and months—especially as the Delta variant continues to circulate and pick up speed.
“It’s going to be hyper-regionalized, where there are certain pockets of the country [where] we can have very dense outbreaks,” Gottlieb said during a June 27 interview on CBS’ Face the Nation.
“I think as you look across the United States, if you’re a community that has low vaccination rates and you also think that there was low immunity from prior infection, so the virus really hasn’t coursed through the local population, those communities are vulnerable,” he explained. “So, I think governors need to be thinking about how they build out health care resources in areas of the country where you still have a lot of vulnerability.”
Other experts cautioned that the newest strain could have tragic consequences in the future. “A variant like Delta that has more transmissibility will lead to more hospitalizations and more deaths among a population that has low vaccination coverage,” Henry Walke, MD, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) division of preparedness and emerging infections, told NBC News. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen in September as we move indoors and as schools open up again. The way to protect those kids is to vaccinate everyone else.”
So, which places are currently seeing their cases increase? Read on to see the states with the worst COVID surges in the U.S., according to data from The Washington Post as of June 29.
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- New cases in the last seven days: 5 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 32 percent
- New cases in the last seven days: 5 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 41 percent
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- New cases in the last seven days: 5 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 41 percent
- New cases in the last seven days: 6 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 44 percent
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- New cases in the last seven days: 4 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 50 percent
- New cases in the last seven days: 12 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 55 percent
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- New cases in the last seven days: 14 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 56 percent
- New cases in the last seven days: 2 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 59 percent
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- New cases in the last seven days: 2 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 71 percent
- New cases in the last seven days: 2 cases per 100,000 people
- Percent increase in the last seven days: 75 percent
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