Déjà Vu All Over Again? COVID-19 Cases Are Mounting in Most States

While people continue to celebrate a return to “normal” and what they see as the demise of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unfortunate truth is that 46 states are reporting at least a 10% increase in the number of confirmed cases. Thirty-six of those states say new cases have gone up at least 50%, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. While largely vaccine-hesitant states like Arkansas and Louisiana are seeing their numbers rise, increases are greatest in California. Mississippi and Missouri are seeing significant jumps in pediatric cases of COVID-19; in Mississippi, the state health department revealed that as of early July seven children with COVID-19 were in intensive care units, with two on ventilators. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 57% of cases in the U.S. right now are attributed to the Delta variant, and that the majority of cases are among unvaccinated individuals.