In 15 states, new Covid-19 cases reported over the past seven days are at least 10% higher than a week ago, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
In two of those states – Minnesota and Michigan – cases are more than 40% higher than they were a week ago.
New Covid-19 cases are still trending down in the United States overall, and weekly case counts in these 15 states haven’t been increasing for long. The seven-day average of new cases has only been higher than the week before for seven days or less in each of those states, except for Michigan, a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.
Typically, experts say that more sustained data – at least a couple weeks – is needed to identify a trend. But as newer, more contagious variants become more prevalent in the US, catching early warning signs may be key to limiting continued spread.
CNN has reported the Biden administration is closely monitoring data and investing resources to prevent and prepare for a fourth surge.
There is no clear link between case growth and variant prevalence in states. Despite having the largest number of coronavirus variants recorded by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida has seen a 16% drop in cases compared to last week. However, the US notably lags in genetic sequencing and only tests a very small portion of samples for the presence of coronavirus variants.