begin quote from:
More than
627,000
people have died from coronavirus in the U.S.
More than 37,633,000 cases have been reported.
PLEASE NOTE
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The disease caused by the novel coronavirus has killed at least 627,000 people in the United States since February 2020 and enveloped nearly every part of the country.
New cases and deaths declined dramatically in spring and early summer as vaccines became available. But as the more contagious delta variant of the virus took hold in July, covid-19 numbers began to look more dire again, particularly in states with low vaccination rates.
Jump to metric:Places with highest daily reported cases per capita
7-day rolling average of daily new reported cases per 100,000 residents
U.S. overall
+9%rise in new
cases in past
week
Mississippi
+9%Louisiana
-14%Alabama
+30%Florida
-21%Tennessee
+32%The deadliest month so far was January 2021, when an average of more than 3,100 people died every day of covid-19. On six days that month, the number topped 4,000. By June 15, the U.S. death toll surpassed 600,000, and it continues to climb by hundreds per day.
The pace of vaccinations peaked at more than 4 million on some days in April, and by July, more than half the U.S. population had received at least one dose of vaccine.
But within the country, vaccination rates vary greatly, from about 70 percent in some states to less than 40 percent in others.
[Tracking vaccination numbers in every state]
New reported cases per day
At least 37,633,955 have been reported since Feb. 29, 2020.
- June 30, 2021 California removed 6,372 duplicate and reclassified cases from their count, resulting in a one-day negative case count.
- March 9, 2021 The spike is due to Missouri adding over 80,000 probable antigen cases to its case count.
Among reported tests, the positivity rate was 9.4%.
The number of tests reported fell 28.9% from the previous week.Read more
Since Dec. 14, more than 361,684,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the U.S.
More than 170,406,000 people have completed vaccination, or about 51.33% of the population. Read more in our vaccination tracker.
Seven-day averages show virus trends better than single-day values, because not all states report their numbers every day.
Some numbers have also fluctuated as testing and reporting criteria have evolved, and spikes in the deaths chart above reflect large, one-time adjustments. For example, on June 25, 2020, New Jersey added more than 1,800 deaths at once. Other single-day spikes have occurred as states have updated their reporting procedures, and they are noted below those charts.
Health officials, including the country’s top infectious-disease expert, Anthony S. Fauci, have said the virus has killed more people than official death tolls indicate.
[‘Goldilocks virus’: Delta vanquishes all variant rivals as scientists race to understand its tricks]
Reported cases per 100,000 residents by county (7-day average)
[Mapping the spread of the coronavirus worldwide]
The virus was initially concentrated in New York, where at least 53,000 have died, and in places where vulnerable people congregate, such as nursing homes, factories and prisons. But it soon blanketed the country, reaching into some of the most remote areas.
In the absence of a federal plan, containment strategies varied by state and locality and often reflected political polarization.
Immediately after his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Biden issued mask mandates on federal property, in airports and on many modes of transportation in hopes of buying time for a vaccination program to ramp up.
On May 13, he and Vice President Harris strode into the Rose Garden without masks to celebrate health officials’ surprise announcement that fully vaccinated people no longer needed masks in most situations anywhere in the country.
“It’s a great milestone, a great day,” Biden said. “It’s been made possible by the extraordinary success we’ve had in vaccinating so many Americans so quickly.”
However, in late July, as the delta variant proliferated around the country and cases and deaths rose in nearly every state, the CDC recommended that everyone resume wearing masks indoors again in covid hot spots in an attempt to squelch the spread.
New research indicated that delta can cause more severe illness than earlier variants, and that even vaccinated people who have breakthrough infections can spread it — although vaccines broadly protect from covid’s most harmful effects.
[What you need to know about the CDC’s new mask guidelines]
Case and death counts by place
| Place | Total reported cases per 100k | Avg. daily new cases per 100k | Change in daily cases in last 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. overall | 11,336 | 42 | 9% |
| West Virginia | 9,906 | 45 | 101% |
| Guam | 5,609 | 33 | 62% |
| North Dakota | 15,065 | 28 | 49% |
| Vermont | 4,335 | 23 | 40% |
| New Hampshire | 7,691 | 18 | 35% |
| South Dakota | 14,502 | 25 | 34% |
| Delaware | 11,992 | 33 | 33% |
| Indiana | 12,138 | 43 | 33% |
| Tennessee | 14,310 | 75 | 32% |
| Georgia | 12,311 | 73 | 32% |
[Tracking known coronavirus cases in D.C., Maryland and Virginia]
The reaction by state officials was polarized again, even in states with skyrocketing infections. Some governors attempted to prevent mask mandates, notably in Texas and Florida; others implemented new mandates as their health-care systems strained to care for new covid patients.
High-profile employers, including Google, the Mayo Clinic, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the military, began requiring vaccinations.
California became the first state to require vaccinations or regular testing for teachers and staff. (Children under 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.) Some colleges decided to mandate vaccines for the fall semester; others aren’t keeping track.
People older than 65 and those with obesity and underlying health problems are the mostly likely to die of covid-19, but a large percentage of infections have occurred in younger people.
[What you need to know about the coronavirus]
Outbreaks have hit Black, Hispanic and Asian communities particularly hard. Native American communities were devastated by the virus as well, but some have become vaccine success stories as tribal health officials took vaccines directly to residents by any means needed — including dog sled.
Some sparsely populated areas have always ranked among the highest in deaths and cases per capita.
People in very rural areas may be more vulnerable to covid-19 than urbanites, according to a Washington Post analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Ten counties with highest rates of reported cases
| County | Total reported cases per 100k | New cases in last 7 days per 100k |
|---|---|---|
| Cameron County, Tex. | 15,255 | 2,172 |
| Cook County, Ga. | 16,061 | 2,112 |
| Haines Borough, Alaska | 4,369 | 2,105 |
| Nome Census Area, Alaska | 6,982 | 1,662 |
| George County, Miss. | 15,352 | 1,662 |
| Dimmit County, Tex. | 31,998 | 1,660 |
| San Juan County, Colo. | 15,074 | 1,654 |
| Hancock County, Miss. | 12,394 | 1,638 |
| Berrien County, Ga. | 14,055 | 1,619 |
| Clarke County, Miss. | 14,553 | 1,570 |
Testing was slow to begin in 2020, and demand often overwhelmed testing infrastructure at first, muddying the ability of officials to get a true picture of the virus’s reach. But like other metrics, demand for testing dropped and then began to tick up recently as the delta variant spread.
Tests reported per 100,000 residents
| Place | New tests reported in last 7 days per 100k | Percent positive in last 7 days |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. overall | 1,868 | 9% |
| Oklahoma | 1,157 | 28% |
| Alabama | 1,528 | 22% |
| Mississippi | 1,660 | 21% |
| Idaho | 1,929 | 19% |
| Virgin Islands | 1,194 | 19% |
| South Dakota | 865 | 18% |
| Tennessee | 1,868 | 18% |
| Arkansas | 1,908 | 12% |
| Arizona | 1,986 | 11% |
| Colorado | 2,212 | 8% |
In August, hospitals in hard-hit areas were again overcrowded and running short of intensive-care beds.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson banned mask mandates in spring, then changed his mind in August as the state’s hospital system was inundated with seriously ill patients. The South has lower vaccination rates than other areas of the country and has been hit especially hard by the delta variant.
Reported covid-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents
| Place | Currently hospitalized for covid per 100k | Currently occupied ICU beds per 100k | Change in hosp. from last week |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. overall | 28 | 7 | 11% |
| Florida | 80 | 17 | 5% |
| Alabama | 59 | 17 | 6% |
| Louisiana | 56 | 20 | -4% |
| Mississippi | 54 | 15 | -2% |
| Georgia | 54 | 13 | 16% |
| Texas | 46 | 12 | 8% |
| Kentucky | 46 | 11 | 29% |
| Arkansas | 45 | 16 | -5% |
| Nevada | 41 | 8 | -1% |
| Oklahoma | 41 | 11 | 7% |
[What you need to know about the different types of vaccines]
Virus-fighting technology has advanced since the beginning of the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration has approved at-home tests and antibody treatments.
Most importantly, of course, on Dec. 14, the first FDA-approved coronavirus vaccine began going into American arms. Two more soon followed.
The rollout had initial hiccups and glitches but smoothed out in spring. Trials have begun that may allow for the approval of vaccines in children younger than 12 by late this year or early 2022.
Doses of covid-19 vaccines administered per 100,000 residents
| Place | People partially vaccinated per 100k | People fully vaccinated per 100k | Pct. of pop. that has completed vaccination |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. overall | 13,377 | 51,328 | 51.3% |
| Vermont | 14,578 | 67,336 | 67.3% |
| Massachusetts | 13,907 | 65,214 | 65.2% |
| Maine | 13,535 | 65,056 | 65.1% |
| Connecticut | 12,845 | 65,013 | 65% |
| Rhode Island | 11,400 | 63,648 | 63.6% |
| Puerto Rico | 13,914 | 61,793 | 61.8% |
| Guam | 10,102 | 61,385 | 61.4% |
| Maryland | 11,206 | 60,527 | 60.5% |
| New Jersey | 13,141 | 60,318 | 60.3% |
| Washington | 12,336 | 59,255 | 59.3% |
Health officials who had sounded so optimistic in May and June became more somber as summer wore on. Fauci called the situation “a pandemic among the unvaccinated,” and his assessment was not rosy:
“We’re going in the wrong direction.”
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