US enters 3rd, possibly largest, coronavirus wave as new cases spike - Business Insider - Business Insider

Seventeen US states have reported more new coronavirus cases in the past week than in any week prior.

The country's seven-day average of new cases has risen about 25% since October 1, with the number of new cases climbing in 41 states over the past two weeks.

The reason, they say, is a combination of factors: Lockdown measures have lifted, more people are spending time indoors as weather gets cold, residents are feeling fatigued by safety measures, and cases never dropped sufficiently.

"If the rates never get that low, and basic public-health measures are not universally adopted, and then you bring people indoors to share a meal together, you're kind of putting together the perfect storm," Ingrid Katz, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, told Business Insider.

Now cases are concentrated in the Midwest, but the virus is more widespread than ever before — it's had 10 months to spread, after all.

"It appears that people are wearing masks and socially distancing more frequently as infections increase, then after a while as infections drop, people let their guard down and stop taking these measures to protect themselves and others – which, of course, leads to more infections.

Though new cases are concentrated in the Midwest, experts said they could quickly spill into other parts of the country.

At least 14 states have test-positivity rates — the share of coronavirus tests that come back positive — above 10%, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said test-positivity rates should ideally sit below 3%.

A dozen states — including Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin — have seen record hospitalization rates in the past week, The Washington Post reported Thursday