Covid Rising in U.S. Southwest as Midwest Sees a Reprieve

(Bloomberg) -- Covid-19 infection rates are accelerating in the U.S. Southwest and Rocky Mountain West after sweeping through the Midwest.

New Mexico saw the nation’s worst trajectory of new cases Tuesday, with the seven-day average rising 27.7% from a week ago, almost triple the national rate. Colorado also had one of the steepest at 20%, behind only Wyoming and Vermont, according to Covid Tracking Project data. Nevada posted a record case count Tuesday.

Some of the outbreak’s other recent hot spots appear to have been granted a reprieve, at least for now. In North and South Dakota, among the most infectious, the seven-day average of cases per million dropped in recent days.

The U.S. reported an additional 166,672 virus cases on Tuesday, according to Covid Tracking Project data. There have been more than 260,000 deaths cumulatively, according to Johns Hopkins University.

On Tuesday, U.S. long-term care passed a grim milestone. Covid-19 has now killed more than 100,000 residents and staff in nursing homes and other facilities, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that focuses on health-care issues.

Covid Tracking Project data show:

• North Dakota and South Dakota had the most new daily cases per million people along with Wisconsin, though their seven-day average dropped.
• The states with the worst momentum are New Mexico, Wyoming, Vermont and Colorado, as measured by the percent change in seven-day average cases from a week earlier.
• In addition to Nevada, Washington posted a record case count Tuesday.

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