Given that a holiday weekend is here, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has been making the case this week that Americans should not let their guard down and should continue to abide by COVID-19 mitigation efforts designed to limit the spread of the virus. (After all, both Memorial Day and July 4th weekends were followed by a surge in cases.) But he seems especially concerned about the seven states we’ve listed right here—all of which referenced in his interview with Bloomberg News. Read on to see if yours is among them. And for more essential coronavirus coverage, make sure you’re fully up-to-speed on the 98 Longest Lasting COVID Symptoms You Need to Know About. According to COVID-19 infection tracker rt.live, North Dakota currently has the third-worst infection rate in the nation. Over the past three weeks, the number of daily infections here has tripled, going from 60 positive tests on Aug. 17th to 362 new cases on Sept. 3rd, according to The New York Times. South Dakota has struggled with the coronavirus of late. It currently has the worst infection rate in the nation, according to rt.live. A big reason for the state’s troubles? The annual bicycle rally recently held in Sturgis, an event that has led to the spread of the virus across the country. According to the NY Times, South Dakota had 50 new infections on Aug. 11th. But that number has grown exponentially in the past four weeks, with 334 new cases on Sept. 3rd. And for more reasons to be concerned about the ongoing pandemic, know that this Alarming New Research Predicts How Many COVID Deaths We’ll See by Year’s End. Iowa currently has the fourth-worst infection rate in the country, according to rt.live. At the beginning of last month, The Hawkeye State had 182 new infections reported on Aug. 3rd. But a full month later, the state reported 1,230 news cases on Sept. 3rd, according to the NY Times. College town Iowa City and Ames are currently seeing the worst outbreaks in the nation.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Arkansas’s new infection rate is causing concern, as well. On Sept. 1st, the state reported just 273 new cases. But two days later, that number had tripled, according to the NY Times. Some encouraging news for Arkansans, however, is that their current infection rate is relatively healthy compared to the rest of the country. Missouri has seen a steady rise in its infection rate since the beginning of June, according to rt.live. The reason Dr. Fauci mentioned Missouri, however, is likely due to a recent rise in daily cases from 389 on Aug. 3rd to 1,372 on Sept. 3rd. Daily infections reported by authorities in Indiana have shot up from 509 on Aug. 19th, to 1,118 on Sept. 3rd, according to the New York Times. According to rt.live, Indiana’s infection rate is the 18th worst in the nation. Illinois currently has the 7th worst infection rate in the nation, according to rt.live. According to the NY Times, the state has had a steady increase in reported infections since Memorial Day weekend. However, the 7-day average of daily infections has plateaued over the past two weeks.
