Tennessee has taken the unenviable top spot from Rhode Island after days of reporting steep increases in cases. The state posted a seven-day average of 7,978 new cases per day, a 68 percent increase over the past two weeks, according to The New York Times. Tennessee is also home to nine of the 20 metro areas that are seeing the fasting growing outbreaks in the U.S. at the moment when adjusted for population size. The recent surge in cases also comes as Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee continues to rebuff advice from local, state, and federal health advisors on issuing a statewide mask mandate. Currently, laws allow for local and county officials to set up mask mandates, with Lee claiming that their use is a matter of personal responsibility that trumps government overregulation. Still, critics are urging Lee to take further action. “We are quickly losing this war and our hospital capacity is now threatened,” Bill Frist, MD, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader representing Tennessee and former heart and lung transplant surgeon, wrote in a Facebook post on Dec. 15. “The vaccine will not help us in time for this surge. We need leadership at the state level (and county level) to act.” Unfortunately, Tennessee isn’t the only state seeing cases surge. Read on to find out which states are home to the highest rate of daily new cases per 100,000 people, according to data from Covid Act Now on Dec. 16. And for more pandemic developments, find out When the COVID Vaccine Is Coming to Your Local Pharmacy. Read the original article on Best Life. 79.4 daily new cases per 100,000 people 80.9 daily new cases per 100,000 peopleae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb And for more on who might get you infected, check out This Is the Person Who Is Most Likely to Give You COVID, Study Finds. 83.0 daily new cases per 100,000 people 83.3 daily new cases per 100,000 people And for more on the next phase of the pandemic, check out Dr. Fauci Says This Is When You’ll Be Able to Throw Away Your Face Mask. 83.8 daily new cases per 100,000 people 84.7 daily new cases per 100,000 people And for more 89.3 daily new cases per 100,000 people And for more on where the virus is spreading, know that You’re More Likely to Catch COVID in This Surprising Place, Study Finds. 93.1 daily new cases per 100,000 people 110.2 daily new cases per 100,000 people 115.7 daily new cases per 100,000 people And for more on other states that are struggling with the pandemic, check out This State Is on the Verge of a “Full Shutdown,” Official Warns.
