COVID Map Shows Cases Amid Rise Across US

President Joe Biden is not alone; a new map shows southwestern states are seeing the highest rates of COVID-19 infection across the country.

The president canceled an appearance in Las Vegas, Nevada, yesterday after testing positive for the disease, which has been on the rise nationwide for the last two months.

The latest data on positive COVID-19 tests across the U.S. shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that Americans living in southwestern states are still suffering the highest rate of infections in the country.

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This is the latest data made available by the CDC, which was released on July 15. Every week, the federal agency produces a graphic of the entire country showing the rates of people testing positive for COVID-19 after taking a test. The percentage of positive cases are subsequently calculated and shown on a map, making it possible to compare different geographical areas. Results are no longer provided for individual states, but are instead recorded as an average across various administrative regions.

Four southwestern states have seen the highest infection rate, with so-called Region Nine, including Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada, recording a 15.6 percent infection rate.

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Although no other states recorded over 15 percent infection, five regions recorded an infection rate higher than 10 percent.

In Region Six, including Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, the rate of new infections was 14 percent.

In Region Ten, including Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, the rate of new infections was 12.5 percent.

In Region Seven, including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, the rate of new infections was 11 percent.

In Region Five, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, the rate of new infections was 10.2 percent.

And in Region One, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the rate of new infections was 10.1 percent.

The national average, in the same week, was 11 percent—up 1.9 percent from the previous week.

There is a general nationwide rise in infections. In May, a new coronavirus variant rose to dominance across the U.S. which experts predicted could cause a potential "summer wave" of COVID-19 cases.

Later in May, one of these new variants, named KP.2, took over as the most dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in America, according to the CDC, and in the beginning of June, a new FLiRT variant, named KP.3, took the lead and now represents 36.9 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. KP.2 still follows as a close second, representing 24.4 percent of cases.