Here Are the States Where Coronavirus Is Still Getting Worse
Experts blame a surge in cases in Arizona on a return to “pre-pandemic behavior.” Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
On Monday, the former epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States began the first phase of its reopening. With New York City finally beginning to ease out of lockdown, it’s tempting to think that the virus is behind us. Indeed, millions of Americans seem to be behaving as if it is. But in some states, the data is discouraging.
It’s not just that the number of positive cases continues to rise; that was expected with the availability of widespread testing. In some places, hospitalizations are increasing too, though none of the states below are seeing anywhere near the level of infections that New York City saw at its peak.
This is all taking place amid the backdrop of civil unrest in some American cities, which is bringing people into uncomfortably close contact with one another, and the loosening of restrictions meant to slow the virus’s spread.
More than 100 days after the first coronavirus case was diagnosed in the U.S., here are the states where things are still getting worse.
Arizona
Last week was a bad one in Arizona. According to the Arizona Daily Star, the state saw its “largest week-to-week increase of coronavirus cases,” and ICU beds are filling up, with one expert suggesting that currents trends will see the state run out of such beds by early July. On Saturday, the state’s health director told hospitals to “fully activate” their emergency plans, a directive that had not been issued in over two months.
Governor Doug Ducey has attributed the rise in cases to more testing, but Marcy Flanagan, head of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, told the Arizona Republic that testing can’t fully explain what’s happening. “Even though an increase in testing could be part of the reason that case counts are climbing, all these indicators together tell us there is an increased spread in the community,” she said.
Will Humble, the director of the Arizona Public Health Association, blamed the spike in irresponsible activity on Arizonans who have been too eager to resume life as normal. “The stay-at-home order lifted and people’s behavior changed on a dime and went back to … pre-pandemic behavior,” he told Fox 10 Phoenix. In another interview, Humble said the state, which ended its stay-at-home order on May 15, could be looking at another lockdown. “If the trends continue, I think we’re on a railroad track to field hospitals and/or another stay-at-home order,” he said Monday.
Arkansas
Arkansas was one of a handful of states that did not put in place a stay-at-home order during the darkest days of the outbreak. Still, cases began to fall in April and early May. But trends in recent weeks have been more concerning, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports:
A week ago, the number of confirmed cases was 7,253. Since then, it has increased by nearly 30%. The 2,173 cases in a week amount to more than 300 per day. Twenty-one deaths were reported over that span.Covid-19 related hospitalizations also climbed from 115 to 145 during the week. The number on ventilators climbed from 27 to 35 over a seven-day span.
The spread has been particularly bad among poultry workers in northwest Arkansas.
California
Los Angeles County has the highest number of cases in the state, but that’s not the number that has captured the attention of L.A. County health-services director Dr. Christina Ghaly. She told the L.A. Times that the “effective transmission rate,” which indicates the average number of people one sick person infects, is slowly rising. After topping out at above three in March, before statewide lockdown measures, the number fell below one in May. The transmission rate “does appear now to be greater than one, and slightly uptrending,” Ghaly said.
Elsewhere, Napa Valley and Sacramento have seen a surge in cases and hospitalizations, respectively. In the capital, where the spike has been linked to private gatherings, COVID-19 hospitalizations have quadrupled, from 8 to 33, in the past two weeks.
Florida
On Tuesday, for the sixth time in the last seven days, more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases were recorded. Governor Ron DeSantis says the spike is due to increased testing, but one infectious-disease specialist sees another contributing factor. “We’re going to continue to see increases in cases as people continue to not follow the standard things that we have to follow to avoid transmitting the virus,” Florida International University’s Dr. Aileen Marty told Local 10.
North Carolina
On Tuesday, North Carolina reported a new high in COVID-19-related hospitalizations with 774. That number has been trending upward after the state saw somewhere between 400 and 550 people hospitalized between mid-April and mid-May. The average number of people hospitalized since May 28 is 671, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
Dr. David Wohl, an infectious-disease expert at UNC, told the paper that hospitalizations are the most telling way to measure the movement of the outbreak. “I think that’s really the truest canary in the coal mine for us,” he said. “If we’re seeing people get sick enough to be admitted to the hospital, that’s telling you we have not flattened the curve.”
The state, meanwhile, is attempting to push forward: On Tuesday, the senate passed a bill allowing a statewide reopening of gyms and bars.
South Carolina
South Carolina set a new record for the most new confirmed cases in a day Monday, with 542. On Tuesday, the number of new cases was down to 434, but the the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported another troubling statistic: The 434 positive cases represented 14.7 percent of all tests reported Tuesday, the highest daily infection rate in over a month, according to The State. That was up from 8.7 percent on Monday.
Texas
Governor Greg Abbott announced last week that Texas is moving to phase three of its reopening, despite disconcerting trends in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
On Monday, Texas set a new record for hospitalizations with 1,935 patients; the previous record was set on May 5, with 1,888 people hospitalized. On Tuesday, the record was broken for the second straight day, with 2,056 patients hospitalized.
Utah
Cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise in Utah in recent weeks, leading health officials to declare a “statewide trend” in coronavirus spread. Over the past week, 9.4 percent of Utah’s tests have come back positive, compared to 6.9 percent last week. In a tweet, the state’s COVID-19 task force said the spike is “not explained by more testing or just one outbreak,” and said people are responsible for slowing the spread: “Eased restrictions don’t cause increased cases alone — it’s our actions that cause COVID-19 to spread. Keep your distance and wear a mask in public, and stay home if you’re sick.
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