These States Are Avoiding COVID Cases as U.S. Faces Possible Surge

While the United States faces a potential surge of COVID-19, several states have continued to avoid a significant increase in new cases.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming have all continued to report low COVID-19 case counts over the past week.

The recent rise in cases across the nation comes a few months after the U.S. saw a major spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in January. After the Omicron wave ebbed, a number of states removed COVID-19 mitigation efforts, such as masking and vaccine mandates.

As of April 13, the CDC reported a rise in COVID-19 cases nationally, as most other states have had a slight increase in newly reported COVID-19 cases, with the nationwide 7-day average up 19.1 percent from the previous week.

Thirteen states have seen a slight increase in cases over the past week. Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Virginia have had an increase in the seven-day moving average number of cases on April 13, when compared to the previous week, according to CDC data.

However, CDC data shows that, in particular, Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming have had some of the lowest COVID-19 case counts across the U.S., each with a seven-day moving average below 100 as of April 13.

While some states are seeing an increase in new daily cases, the numbers are not reaching the surge previously experienced during the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Dr. Eric Topol, who serves as the head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told the Associated Press on Friday that COVID-19 cases will likely continue to rise in the U.S. but will not reach the "monstrous" height seen earlier this year.

Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University, also spoke to the Associated Press about the potential rise in new COVID-19 cases and warned that "[w]e could have a substantial surge" due to the BA.2 variant—currently the predominant strain of omicron lineage in the U.S.

While speaking with Bloomberg TV earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, warned that "we should expect that we are going to see some increase in cases as you get to the colder weather in the fall."

Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for comment.