U.S. Coronavirus Hotspots—These Regions Have the Most Infections

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Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel, health, home/interior design and property/real estate. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively from 2020 to 2022, including several interviews with the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major news events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Capitol riots, the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Soo is also a South Korea expert, covering the latest K-dramas—including the breakout hit Squid Game, which she has covered extensively, including from Seoul, the South Korean capital—as well as Korean films, such as the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Past Lives, and K-pop news, to interviews with the biggest Korean actors, such as Lee Jung-jae from Squid Game and Star Wars, and Korean directors, such as Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Celine Song. Soo is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of The Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations. Soo is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism. You can get in touch with Soo by emailing s.kim@newsweek.com . Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim .Languages spoken: English and Korean

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Coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surpassed 5.4 million, according to the latest report Monday from Johns Hopkins University.

The regions with the most number of confirmed cases in the country are the South Atlantic followed by West South Central, Mid-Atlantic, Pacific and East North Central regions in the top five rankings. Each of these five regions have reported over 500,000 confirmed cases, according to data compiled by JHU.

Nearly a quarter (24.2 percent) of the country's total confirmed cases are in the South Atlantic region, which has over 1.3 million cases to date. There are 19 states across the country that have each reported more than 100,000 confirmed cases so far, according to JHU. The New England region reported the least number of cases to date, with a regional total of just under 207,500 confirmed infections.

U.S. regions with most COVID-19 cases (more than 500,000)

Source: Johns Hopkins University, as of August 17

  1. South Atlantic: nearly 1.31 million confirmed cases
  2. West South Central: nearly 794,400
  3. Mid-Atlantic: nearly 742,100
  4. Pacific: nearly 724,000
  5. East North Central: nearly 564,200

Below are the total confirmed cases in each state, as well as Washington, D.C., within different regions across the country. All case data below is from the latest report Monday by Johns Hopkins University. All population data below is from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2019.

South Atlantic

Total confirmed cases: 1,307,032
Total population of region: 65,784,817

  1. Florida: 573,416 confirmed cases; state population: 21,477,737
  2. Georgia: 237,030; 10,617,423
  3. North Carolina: 144,952; 10,488,084
  4. Maryland: 100,212; 6,045,680
  5. Virginia: 106,687; 8,535,519
  6. South Carolina: 106,497; 5,148,714
  7. Delaware: 16,451; 973,764
  8. Washington, D.C.: 13,220; 705,749
  9. West Virginia: 8,567; 1,792,147

West South Central

Total confirmed cases: 794,319
Total population of region: 40,619,450

  1. Texas: 555,394; 28,995,881
  2. Louisiana: 137,918; 4,648,794
  3. Arkansas: 52,665; 3,017,804
  4. Oklahoma: 48,342; 3,956,971

Mid-Atlantic

Total confirmed cases: 742,033
Total population of region: 33,137,740

  1. New York: 425,508; 19,453,561
  2. New Jersey: 187,455; 8,882,190
  3. Pennsylvania: 129,070; 12,801,989

Pacific

Total confirmed cases: 723,897
Total population of region: 53,492,270

  1. California: 623,873; 39,512,223
  2. Washington: 67,461; 7,614,893
  3. Oregon: 23,262; 4,217,737
  4. Alaska: 4,259; 731,545
  5. Hawaii: 5,042; 1,415,872

East North Central

Total confirmed cases: 564,114
Total population of region: 46,902,431

  1. Illinois: 207,412; 12,671,821
  2. Michigan: 102,259; 9,986,857
  3. Ohio: 108,287; 11,689,100
  4. Indiana: 80,415; 6,732,219
  5. Wisconsin: 65,741; 5,822,434

Mountain region in the West

Total confirmed cases: 414,751
Total population of region: 24,854,998

  1. Arizona: 193,537; 7,278,717
  2. Colorado: 53,157; 5,758,736
  3. Utah: 46,652; 3,205,958
  4. Nevada: 61,305; 3,080,156
  5. New Mexico: 23,408; 2,096,829
  6. Idaho: 27,656; 1,787,065
  7. Wyoming: 3,286; 578,759
  8. Montana: 5,750; 1,068,778

East South Central

Total confirmed cases: 353,207
Total population of region: 19,176,181

  1. Tennessee: 133,708; 6,829,174
  2. Alabama: 108,433; 4,903,185
  3. Mississippi: 72,136; 2,976,149
  4. Kentucky: 38,930; 4,467,673

West North Central

Total confirmed cases: 269,005
Total population of region: 21,426,573

  1. Minnesota: 65,152; 5,639,632
  2. Iowa: 52,539; 3,155,070
  3. Missouri: 68,196; 6,137,428
  4. Nebraska: 30,372; 1,934,408
  5. Kansas: 33,885; 2,913,314
  6. South Dakota: 10,274; 884,659
  7. North Dakota: 8,587; 762,062

New England

Total confirmed cases: 207,496
Total population of region: 14,845,063

  1. Massachusetts: 123,593; 6,892,503
  2. Connecticut: 50,897; 3,565,287
  3. Rhode Island: 20,335; 1,059,361
  4. New Hampshire: 6,988; 1,359,711
  5. Maine: 4,168; 1,344,212
  6. Vermont: 1,515; 623,989
Florida beaches April 2020
People walking down the beach in Jacksonville Beach, Florida on April 19, 2020. Getty Images

Over 21.7 million people across the globe have been infected since the virus was first reported in Wuhan, China. Over 13.6 million have reportedly recovered from infection, while nearly 776,000 have died, according to the latest report Monday by Johns Hopkins University.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates countries with the most COVID-19 cases.

Countries with most COVID-19 cases
STATISTA
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About the writer

Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel, health, home/interior design and property/real estate. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively from 2020 to 2022, including several interviews with the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major news events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Capitol riots, the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Soo is also a South Korea expert, covering the latest K-dramas—including the breakout hit Squid Game, which she has covered extensively, including from Seoul, the South Korean capital—as well as Korean films, such as the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Past Lives, and K-pop news, to interviews with the biggest Korean actors, such as Lee Jung-jae from Squid Game and Star Wars, and Korean directors, such as Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Celine Song. Soo is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of The Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations. Soo is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism. You can get in touch with Soo by emailing s.kim@newsweek.com . Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim .Languages spoken: English and Korean

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Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more