US cases of the coronavirus have surpassed six million as several states in the Midwest reported increasing infections, a Reuters tally on Sunday showed.
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota have recently reported record one-day increases in new cases, while Montana and Idaho are seeing record numbers of hospitalised Covid-19 patients. Nationally, metrics on new cases, deaths, hospitalisations and the positivity rates of tests are all declining, but there are emerging hot spots in the Midwest.
Several of the new cases in Iowa are in the counties that are home to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, which are holding some in-person classes. Colleges and universities around the country have seen outbreaks after students returned to campus, forcing some to switch to online-only learning.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that his state was sending a "Swat team" to a State University of New York (SUNY) campus in Oneonta, in upstate New York, to contain a Covid-19 outbreak. Autumn classes, which started the previous week at the college, were suspended for two weeks after more than 100 people tested positive for the virus, SUNY chancellor Jim Malatras said.
"We've had reports of several large parties of our students at Oneonta the previous week and, unfortunately, because of those larger gatherings, there were several students who were symptomatic of Covid," Mr Malatras said.
Across the Midwest, infections have also risen after an annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, drew more than 365,000 people from across the country from Aug 7 to 16. The South Dakota health department said 88 cases have been traced to the rally.
More than eight months into the pandemic, the United States continues to struggle with testing.
The number of people tested has fallen in recent weeks. Several health officials and at least 33 states have rejected the new Covid-19 testing guidance issued by the Trump administration the previous week that said those exposed to the virus but not showing any symptoms may not need testing.
Public health officials believe the US needs to test more frequently to find asymptomatic carriers in order to slow the spread of the disease.
While the US has the most number of recorded infections in the world, it ranks 10th based on cases per capita, with Brazil, Peru and Chile having higher rates of infection, according to the Reuters tally.
The US also has the most deaths in the world at over 187,000 but ranks 11th for deaths per capita, exceeded by countries such as Sweden, Brazil, Italy, Chile, Spain and the United Kingdom.
REUTERS