- More than two dozen states are currently seeing a rapid increase in new coronavirus cases.
- North Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana, and Missouri have all been hit hard by coronavirus infections and associated deaths over the last two weeks.
- The average number of new coronavirus cases per day across the U.S. currently stands at about 50,000.
A few months ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the U.S. had to get the average number of new coronavirus infections below 10,000/day before fall. Fast forward to mid-October and the U.S. is currently seeing more than 50,000 new infections per day. Suffice it to say, the coronavirus outlook in the U.S. is looking grim. And with colder weather on the horizon, not to mention flu season set to kick into high gear, many health experts believe that a massive spike in new coronavirus infections is right around the corner.
“We’re entering into the cooler months of the fall,” Fauci said earlier this week, “and ultimately the cold months of the winter, and that’s just a recipe of a real problem if we don’t get things under control before we get into that seasonal challenge.”
As it stands today, there are nearly 30 states currently experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections. And in a revelation that shouldn’t come a shock to anyone, the states currently in the midst of the worst coronavirus outbreaks tend to be the states with the fewest coronavirus restrictions.
According to The New York Times COVID-19 tracking tool, the 10 states below are where the biggest coronavirus outbreaks are happening right now.
- North Dakota – 4,091 cases last week. 43% increase in cases and 41% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- South Dakota – 4,309 cases last week. 56% increase in cases and 57% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- Montana – 4,093 cases over the last seven days. 91% increase in cases and 113% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- Wisconsin – 21,065 cases over the last week. 25% increase in cases and 77% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- Utah – 8,496 cases in the last week. 20% increase in cases and 88% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- Nebraska – 5,071 cases in the last week. 54% increase in cases and 25% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- Iowa – 7,700 cases over the last seven days. 22% increase in cases and 43% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- Idaho – 4,301 new cases over the last week. 22% increase in cases and 20% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
- Wyoming – 1,278 cases over the last week. 64% increase in cases over the last two weeks.
- Missouri – 10,034 new cases over the last week. 28% increase in cases and 65% increase in deaths over the last two weeks.
Looking ahead, it stands to reason that the second coronavirus wave will be more impactful than the first. And given how many deaths we saw over the past few months, experts have been urging people to still wear masks when in public and to adhere to social distancing guidelines. In a worst-case scenario, a projection from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation suggests that we could see the coronavirus death rate hit upwards of 2,900 per day by December. The good news is that the projection changes to about 600-700 deaths per day if people start wearing masks en masse.
We’re now seven months into the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. and the sad reality is that there’s currently no end in sight.
