While the US vaccination initiative Covid-19 has overshadowed that of many other countries, a significant number of US cities and states remain hot spots where the coronavirus continues to spread at record rates. The increases are taking place as more states loosen the public health restrictions that were in place to stop the spread of Covid-19.
As of April 16, the US had an average of 70,117 cases a day, up 8 percent from the 14-day average, with hospitalizations up 9 percent, according to the New York Times. A minimum of 21 states recorded an increase of at least 10% in daily cases of coronavirus positive, CNN reports from recent data from Johns Hopkins University. However, deaths fell by 12% during this period.
The U.S. state of Michigan has registered 8,955 new cases of Covid-19 since Friday, marking “the second highest total in a single day in Michigan since the beginning of the pandemic,” ClickOnDetroit reports. Michigan has now seen 779,777 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 16,771 deaths and leading the United States in new infections.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer adopted some of the nation’s strongest Covid-19 restrictions in March 2020, which also seemed to work when the United States saw a second wave last fall. However, Whitmer does not take the same approach during this recent wave and relies largely on the vaccination initiative and a voluntary break to eat in person.
Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are also on the rise in Maryland. While growth at the state level is lower than in mid-January, Baltimore is now “emerging as a Covid hotspot” – seeing levels of cases that have not been recorded since winter-related growth, the Baltimore Sun reports. .
And on the west coast, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee warned Thursday that the state is ready for a potential fourth wave of coronavirus – new cases now reaching more than 1,000 a day, up from 700 a day in February, according to the Associated Press . Officials decided to lift restrictions in three heavily affected counties, limiting the serving capacity of indoor restaurants, retail and gyms from 50% to 25%.
The United States had more Covid-19 cases and deaths than any other country: 31,575,640 confirmed infections and 566,224 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. At least 202,282,923 doses of coronavirus vaccine were administered; 72,813,391 were completely vaccinated – 22 percent of the U.S. population, Johns Hopkins said.