These 8 states are currently experiencing the worst COVID outbreaks



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A week after the United States reported the first sustained declines in nationally reported COVID cases, the numbers appear to be on the rise again. As the highly contagious Delta variant continues to wreak havoc, some particularly affected states are reporting outbreaks of COVID which are among the worst seen since the start of the pandemic.

Based on data from The Washington Post, the drop in one-week vacations after Labor Day observed in national figures has already been erased. The national average of daily reported cases increased 16% in the past seven days to 164,475 as of September 13, surpassing the previous summer’s peak of 164,386 set on September 1. And while some states that have suffered exponentially from the Delta variant wave are finally showing signs of a shift, others are seeing high and sustained numbers that are straining local health systems.

“We continue to see more cases than are safe by any means,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement announcing the state’s new record week for COVID-19 cases on September 7. “The bad news is that we had the worst week ever last week. Our hospitals continue to be pushed to the brink. If we have a bad week, we can run out of intensive care beds very quickly. . “

While it was once a national leader in the number of vaccines deployed, West Virginia recently reported a drastic increase in severe cases of COVID-19 while seeing a significant lag develop in the new doses administered. “We are very concerned about the exit of this particular part of the pandemic because our hospital systems and our intensive care units have been put to the test more severely than before,” he added. Clay swamp, MD, COVID Czar for West Virginia, told CNBC.

But one expert pointed out that this summer’s surge still managed to stay well below levels seen during the worst days of the pandemic thanks to an important tool. “If we hadn’t had the vaccine, you would have seen much larger cases and much greater mortality,” he added. Arturo Casadevall, MD, president of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNBC. “It is very clear that people who have the vaccine can get [COVID], but it is also clear that the likelihood that they will contract a serious illness, or have to go to the hospital, or die, is much lower than if they had not been vaccinated. The vaccine is therefore quietly in the background, saving tens of thousands of lives. “

Read on to see which states experienced COVID outbreaks of 40% or more in the past week to September 14, according to data from The Washington Post.

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Massachusetts
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 34 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 40 percent

According to data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Massachusetts has the second highest vaccination rate in the country after Vermont. But while the state has seen a high number of doses administered overall, it is not distributed evenly across all communities. Some local experts fear that reopening classrooms could lead to localized peaks where firing is late.

“It’s a story of two states, when we have so many cities with a 90% rate, but so many cities with a 50% rate,” Alain geller, researcher and lecturer at the TH Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University, said The Boston Globe.

Cityscape photo of the Montana State Capitol Building in Helena, Montana
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 73 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 41 percent

COVID cases in Montana have continued to increase with the national average since the start of the summer. Now, as hospitals are overrun, some areas are calling in members of the National Guard to help cope with the heavy burden after spending last season fighting wildfires across the state.

“I think a lot of people in our community have no idea that we are going up again, that we have COVID again and that our staff are suffering, having to take care of these very sick patients that we honestly can’t do anything about. ‘other than to hold their hands and offer supportive treatment and hope ”, Shelly Harkins, MD, president and chief medical officer of St. Peter’s Health in Helena, told the Independent recording September 5.

RELATED: 60% of Virus Experts Won’t Do These 6 Things Right Now, Data Shows.

City skyline of buildings in downtown Detroit, Michigan at twilight
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 35 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 49 percent

Michigan has seen a dizzying increase in the number of cases over the summer, with the daily average dropping from its low of 97 on July 8 to 3,421 through September 13, according to data from The New York Times. Many of the recent outbreaks appear to have coincided with students returning to class, as 344 new outbreaks and 548 ongoing outbreaks have been reported in schools across the state, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Buildings and walkway by a lake in Providence, Rhode Island at night
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 41 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 50 percent

Along with many other states, Rhode Island saw its daily average of cases increase over the summer, reaching 438 and increasing as of September 13, according to data from The New York Times. Fortunately, state health officials also reported that hospitalizations had started to decline, from 161 in early September to 108 on September 13.

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Cityscape photo of Salt Lake City, Utah at twilight
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 66 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 55 percent

According to recent state health data, the seven-day moving average for positive COVID-19 tests reached 1,545 as of September 13, which is the highest figure since January 28. Now, with 935 of the 4,227 cases recorded over the weekend reported among K-12 schoolchildren, local authorities are pushing to extend current terms of masks for students in some areas to curb the push.

“COVID continues to claim unnecessary lives,” Salt Lake City mayor said Erin mendenhall said at a September 13 press conference, adding that the most recent surge appears “to be getting worse by the day.”

“Our children must wear masks in schools and in public. We have not come out of the woods and we cannot afford to take a step back at a time like this,” she said.

photo taken by a drone of downtown Sitka, Alaska
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 113 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 55 percent

Along with an increase in the number of cases, state health data shows COVID hospitalizations in Alaska have increased by more than 1,200% since the end of June to reach 210 as of September 13. Daily News from Anchorage reports. According to local health workers, this wave also sees another type of patient flooding the health system.

“For the first time in my entire career, which spans about 20 years, I have had an entire intensive care unit filled with patients younger than me”, Javid Kamali |, MD, an intensive care physician at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, told Alaska Public Media. “This has never happened before.”

RELATED: These States Will Then Be Affected By A “True Delta Wave,” Warns Virus Expert.

Cityscape photo of Portsmouth, New Hampshire at sunset
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 38 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 65 percent

According to state health officials, the number of active COVID cases in New Hampshire rose to 3,437 on September 13, the highest since April 16. The Granite State also reported an increase in hospitalizations to 154, marking the highest level since February 9. .

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The skyline of Nashville, Tennessee
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  • New cases in the last seven days: 175 cases per 100,000 people
  • Percentage increase in the last seven days: 69 percent

The continued surge caused by the Delta variant has made Tennessee the state with the most COVID infections in the past two weeks after adjusting for the population, according to data from The temperature. That includes 15,411 new cases reported on September 10, the most recorded in a single day in the state during the pandemic.

“I’m concerned that the fact that we’re in the lead reflects the fact that we haven’t been vaccinated, we have cases now occurring in the state of Tennessee at a frequency that rivals the frequency of last December when we had this huge push “, Guillaume Schaffner, MD, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told local ABC affiliate WKRN. “We are lagging behind when it comes to immunization and therefore our citizens are volunteering to get sick because they are the ones who are admitted to the hospital today, unvaccinated people, well over 90% in our state. “

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