The percentage of emergency department visits that were diagnosed as COVID has remained largely unchanged in recent weeks, at 0.6 percent—with the highest rates located in the Southwest: New Mexico at 1.8 percent and Arizona at 1.5 percent.
Deaths from COVID are highest in North Carolina, with 1.4 percent of deaths attributed to the virus.
California, Michigan, New York and Florida also have higher than average rates of COVID-related deaths, ranging from 1.2 percent in California to 0.6 percent in Florida.
According to viral activity in wastewater — one of the most accurate ways to measure cases since the CDC stopped tracking overall cases, — the states with the highest COVID rates, as of Nov. 30, are:
For the week ending August 31, the CDC reported that 16.3 percent of all COVID-19 tests performed in the U.S.—excluding at-home test results—were coming back positive. This is a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous week, but the infection rates have not been evenly distributed across the country.
The below map illustrates the distribution of positive tests in the U.S., divided into 10 Health and Human Service regions.
..For the week ending August 31, the CDC reported that 16.3 percent of all COVID-19 tests performed in the U.S.—excluding at-home test results—were coming back positive. This is a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous week, but the infection rates have not been evenly distributed across the country.
New data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that the highest rates of infection are found in five Southern/Southwestern states, with nearly 1 in 4 COVID tests coming out positive across Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. ...
Since the widespread adoption of air conditioning in the 1970s, Americans have moved in droves from cold northern climes to sunny southern ones. That has led to booming populations in states such as Florida, Texas and Arizona, and a shift in economic activity from north to south.
