According to Johns Hopkins University, Alabama (+ 90%), Delaware (+ 52%) and Michigan (+ 50%) are among the states with the largest peaks.
In Michigan, cases have been on the rise since the last week of February, and the state has reported the second highest number of cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the UK.
Those peaks come as Michigan prepares to roll out the state’s largest mass vaccination site at Ford Field in Detroit.
On Thursday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and other state leaders took center stage at Ford Field to announce that the site – scheduled to open on March 24 and managed with support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency – will have the capacity to deliver 6,000 shots daily.
“We are in the fourth quarter of this fight against the pandemic. It is not over yet. It is not time to get football going,” Whitmer said. “It’s time we put our teeth together and keep doing the work we need to do until the last second of this event is over. If we want to get back to normal … we all need to get vaccinated, encourage our loved one. those and friends and colleagues and neighbors to do this. “
Dr. Jennifer Morse, medical director of the Mid-Michigan District’s health department, hopes the clinic’s opening will help slow the spread of the virus in the state.
Morse said there is a long list of factors contributing to the spike in Michigan cases.
An example, she said, is the recent rollback of certain restrictions.
Earlier this month, Whitmer relaxed restrictions and increased capacity limits in restaurants, shops and gyms from 25% to 50% capacity, with a maximum capacity of 100 people per location.
Whitmer told CNN earlier this month that her state has made great strides against the virus, but they remain “tied to science” as they relax restrictions.
Morse said rolling back restrictions has resulted in poorly wearing the mask. She also said the news of new vaccines led people to think they could relax some of their hygiene habits, such as wearing masks.
Morse told CNN that an outbreak of Covid-19 in an Ionia County prison and the B.1.1.7 variant have also fueled the recent surge.
Morse, who noted that the state has administered more than three million doses of vaccine, said she fears progress in fighting the virus could be reversed if the trend of increasing cases continues.
“My only hope is that we got ourselves really aggressive and got through the different vaccination categories pretty well,” said Morse. “And I hope that will help prevent (fallen) from climbing as rampant as (they) did in the fall.”
Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist shared that hope during Thursday’s announcement at Ford Field.
“At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Detroit was one of America’s epicenters for cases and deaths. And as a Detroiter, I felt this had personally said goodbye to 27 people because of this virus,” Gilchrist said, adding that the Ford De field site will assign 1,000 vaccines daily to mobile vaccine units in southeast Michigan. “The virus has hit our city hard, but Michiganders is tough. We can come together to fight Covid-19.”
CNN’s Melissa Alonso contributed to this report.