Why Coronaviruses Are Soaring Now in the Midwest

The Epicenter of US coronavirus epidemic It is a moving target. It was New York City in the spring. Since then, Florida, Texas, and California have become hotspots. And now, as autumn is approaching, the outbreak is in a new location, the Midwest.

After this summer’s surge, daily coronavirus cases and deaths are declining nationwide. On August 31, there were about 34,000 new cases of coronavirus and about 600 deaths, about 12% and 30% less than two weeks ago, respectively. But the Midwest is an exception to this trend. It is the only region in the country where daily cases are increasing in almost every state, and is dramatically increasing in some of the regions such as Dakota and Iowa.

“It was a matter of time,” says Dr. Lenawen, a former public health professor at George Washington University who was a Health Commissioner in Baltimore. “Basically, we play Whac-A-Mole. Part of the country is a hotspot. We can suppress it. But that wave moves elsewhere in the country.” .”

It took months to transition from a virus-dense urban travel hub to a more sparse population Rural community.. Currently, the virus seems to have settled in the Midwest due to a combination of tourism, business resumption, and return to school.

“There have been some localized outbreaks, but this is the first real evidence of the expansion of a strong community,” says Victor Huber, a virologist at Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota. “When a virus can invade and infect that population, it will go ahead and do it.”

In many states in the Midwest, there is not yet as close to as many cases of coronavirus as in other parts of the country. For example, North And South DakotaThe two states currently experiencing spikes have recorded only about 12,000 and 14,000 cases, respectively, since the beginning of the pandemic. Recorded in New York City.. However, the daily number of cases of Dakotas and Iowa is increasing by double digits compared to two weeks ago. Throughout the last week of August, five states in the Midwest set a new case daily record. North Dakota (374), Iowa (2,681), Minnesota (1,154), South Dakota (623) and Kansas (1,019).

“Clearly no population density [of places like New York City]”But in a small community… I have more opportunities to interact with people more often,” Huber says.

Coronavirus test positive rates are increasing in many regions. In South Dakota, about 17% of the tests returned positive in the week leading up to September 1, with an average of about 8% of pandemics over the last few months. Iowa, After the positive rate stayed in the single digits for most of the summer, about 11% returned to positive.

“The World Health Organization has a positive test rate Must be less than 5%]. In areas with much higher positivity rates, the virus says it may spread rapidly and may not be able to catch and isolate all cases.

Hoover’s comment Some states in the Midwest Do not shut down completely. Many companies and tourist destinations have become completely open and are becoming more popular. Held in Sturgis, South Dakota from August 7th to 16th, the popular Motorcycle Rally has so far been associated with about 250 coronavirus cases in at least 10 states in Rapid City, South Dakota. journal report..

Universities can also play a role. Multiple Midwest campuses have already overcome the large-scale outbreak of the coronavirus, data New York collects Times.. About 500 cases have been recorded at Notre Dame University in Indiana. About 450 at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Over 300 at Iowa State University. Over 200 students at North Dakota University, University of Michigan, and Illinois State University. (Cases that occur on college campuses are often counted in the student’s home state, not the school’s state, but especially in state schools, the two are often the same.)

The number of coronavirus outbreaks in meat processing plants in the Midwest also hit headlines this spring. Iowa Tyson Facility According to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, nearly 5,000 people in Nebraska and 3,600 people in Iowa were sick as of August 31, related to outbreaks across meat processing facilities throughout the pandemic. data..

To curb this surge, Wen said, it would be necessary to increase inspection and case surveillance in the Midwest states, require masks in public places, ban indoor meals, and limit indoor gatherings. There is.

“We are not the beginning of this outbreak. We have seen what works elsewhere,” she says. “We know what works. It’s time to implement it.”

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Write in Jamie Do Charm [email protected]..