Surges in COVID-19 cases are causing disruptions in many parts of the U.S., but as the school year wraps up and Americans prepare for their summer vacations, many people have returned to their pre-pandemic routines.
HONOLULU — A high school prom in Hawaii where masked dancers weren’t allowed to touch. A return to virtual city council meetings in one Colorado town after the mayor and others tested positive following an in-person session. A reinstated mask mandate at skilled nursing facilities in Los Angeles County after 22 new outbreaks in a single week.
Hospitalizations are also up and more than one-third of the U.S. population lives in areas that are considered at high risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Northeast has been hit the hardest. A major metric for the pandemic — the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases in the U.S. — skyrocketed over the last two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The figure was about 76,000 on May 9 and jumped to nearly 109,000 on Monday. That was the highest it had been since mid-February, when the omicron-fueled surge was winding down.
In Hawaii, which once had one of the nation’s lowest rates of infection, hospitalization and death, new cases are surging among the state’s 1.4 million residents. The University of Hawaii With cases climbing for eight straight weeks, Hawaii has the second highest infection rate of any state, trailing only Rhode Island. But because positive home test results aren’t counted in official data, Hawaii’s health department estimates that the case count is actually five or six times higher.
Hawaii was the last state in the nation to drop its mask mandate, though it remains the only state to require all public school students to wear masks while indoors — a rule that will remain in effect throughout the summer and possibly into the next school year.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Hard hit by COVID-19, Black Americans are recovering slowlyExperts say it will take longer for Black communities to recover from the pandemic’s public health and economic impact.
Read more »
COVID-19 cases slowly beginning to rise in North TexasAnother uptick in COVID-19 cases is cause for some caution. The chief medical officer at Parkland Health is not worried yet.
Read more »
San Diego Unified may bring back indoor masking as COVID-19 cases riseThe San Diego Unified School District may once again require indoor masks as COVID-19 cases continue to rise throughout the county.
Read more »
As COVID-19 cases rise, 60% of eligible kids in Illinois are still unvaccinatedDoctors, public health experts and community members who work on vaccine outreach say they hear a range of concerns from parents.
Read more »
Philadelphia School District's Mask Mandate Goes Back Into Effect On Monday As COVID-19 Cases RiseBeginning on Monday, thousands of students will begin masking-up again. The spike in COVID-19 cases is leading some school districts to bring back their mask mandates, including the Philadelphia School District. KerriCorrado reports.
Read more »
Biden: Monkeypox threat doesn’t rise to level of COVID-19President Joe Biden is seeking to calm concerns about recent cases of monkeypox that have been identified in Europe and the United States.
Read more »