People line up in their vehicles for COVID testing as cases spread through the Midwest
Nine U.S. states have reported a record increase in COVID-19 cases over the past seven days, primarily in the upper Midwest and West where cold weather is forcing more activity indoors.
On Saturday alone, four states – Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin – saw a record increase in new cases and nearly 49,000 new infections were reported nationwide, the highest for a Saturday in seven weeks, according to a Reuters analysis. Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming also set new case records last week.
Daytime highs in many of these states are now in the 50s Fahrenheit (10 Celsius). Health experts have long warned that colder temperatures pushing people indoors could help the virus spread.
Montana has reported a record number of new cases for three of the past four days and also has a record number of COVID-19 patients in its hospitals.
Wisconsin set records for new cases two of the past three days and also reported record hospitalizations on Saturday. On average, 22% of tests come back positive, one of the highest rates in the country.
The Democratic governor of Wisconsin mandated masks on August 1, but Republican lawmakers are backing a lawsuit challenging that requirement.
North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin have the highest new cases per capita in the country.
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is one of many prominent Republicans to have tested positive for the coronavirus since President Donald Trump announced he had contracted the virus.
Due to the surge in cases in the Midwest, nursing homes and assisted living centers operated by Aspirus in northern Wisconsin and Michigan are banning most visitors, as they did earlier this year.
Bellin Health, which operates a hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said last week that its emergency department had sometimes exceeded its capacity and doctors had to place patients in beds in the hallways.
The United States is reporting 42,600 new cases and 700 deaths on average every day, up from 35,000 cases and 800 deaths in mid-September. Deaths are a lagging indicator and tend to increase several weeks after the increase in cases.
Kentucky is the first southern state to report a record increase in cases in several weeks. Governor Andy Beshear said last week was the highest number of cases the state has seen since the start of the pandemic.
State health experts have not identified the reason for the rise, but point to fatigue with COVID-19 precautions and students returning to schools and colleges. In the past two weeks, Kentucky has reported nearly 11,000 new cases and has seen hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients increase by 20%.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
