The CDC document defines an “area of concern” as a county where the “disease burden is high and still growing,” looking at the incidences of COVID and the change in daily incidences over the last two weeks. According to the CDC data, the numbers in the following 10 counties—which span states from Arkansas to Colorado, and Nebraska to Virginia—are raising the most red flags. These could very well be the next coronavirus hotspots. And for more states that are in danger, check out These 6 States Need Another Lockdown, Harvard Researchers Say. Arkansas has had about 26,800 cases of COVID-19 overall since the pandemic began, The New York Times reports. And while that may seem low compared to more populous states, the rate of growth in two Arkansas counties in particular over the past two weeks has alarmed the CDC. Yell County, for one, has seen 302 new coronavirus cases since the end of June. For reference, the county has reported 822 COVID cases overall in the past four months, according to The Times data, meaning nearly 40 percent of total cases have cropped up in the last two weeks. Mineral County, Colorado, is similarly seeing COVID spike by a huge margin. Though it’s had just 10 new coronavirus cases in the past two weeks, that’s two-thirds of its total 15 cases since the pandemic began, The New York Times data indicates. It’s also seen a 12.5 increase in daily cases in the same time period, the CDC report shows. The situation is Colorado overall has raised some eyebrows. On July 10, it had 606 new cases, the second highest single-day on record. It’s worth noting that the single highest number of new cases in a day was 712 back in April, which means COVID could be returning to the state in a big way. And for more states that are causing concern, check out COVID Cases in This State Are Up a Staggering 999 Percent Since Reopening.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Nebraska’s Thurston County has counted 169 cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to The New York Times. And the past two weeks has accounted for a startling 93 of those total cases, according to the CDC report, which is nearly 60 percent. In that timeframe, Thurston County has witnessed a 6 percent daily increase in cases. You don’t need us to tell you that Arizona is in a dire situation. According to recent data from the Harvard Global Health Institute, it’s one of two states in the country where your risk of catching COVID is highest (the other being Florida). But Arizona’s Santa Cruz County is causing particular concern. According to the CDC, the county has had 527 new cases in the past two weeks, which accounts for a quarter of its total 2,170 cases since coronavirus first hit, The Times data shows. And for more on your COVID risk, check out This Is How Likely You Are to Get Coronavirus This Year, Doctor Says. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been begging citizens to wear face masks and it seems the residents of two counties especially should heed his warning: Victoria and Nueces. The former has seen 1,673 total COVID cases since the start of the pandemic, The New York Times reports. And more than half of those have cropped up in the past two weeks: 989 to be exact, according to the CDC’s findings. Even more of a reason for concern among the CDC is the fact that the county’s incidences have been increasing by almost 8 percent each day in the past two weeks. Texas’s Nueces County is similarly suffering. The much larger county has counted 5,672 instances of COVID since the pandemic began, according to The Times. Alarmingly, 3,342 of those are from the last two weeks, the CDC reports. That’s nearly 60 percent of cases in two weeks amid a pandemic that’s lasted 17 weeks thus far. And for more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Miami-Dade County is in such a bad place with containing COVID that the mayor of the Florida county recently announced a rollback in its reopening plan, shutting down in-person dining, ballrooms, banquet halls, party venues, gyms and fitness centers, and short-term rentals. Miami-Dade county has had by far the most coronavirus cases in the state—60,867, The New York Times reports. The last two weeks account for about 40 percent of those total cases, with 24,236 people coming down with COVID, the CDC reports. And for more on Florida’s spike, check out This Is Exactly Why Coronavirus Cases Are Surging, Harvard Doctor Says. Like fellow Arkansas county Yell, Chicot County is also seeing COVID spike on a smaller scale but at an equally startling rate. It’s had 210 total coronavirus cases during the pandemic, The New York Times reports, but the CDC says 90 of those cases—about 43 percent of the total—are from the last two weeks. Virginia’s Galax City, which is its own county, has counted 287 total coronavirus cases, according to The New York Times. However, 54 of those came about in the past two weeks, the CDC notes. That’s nearly 20 percent of the county’s total case count. On top of that, Galax City has seen a 5 percent daily increase in incidences over the course of the last two weeks, according to the CDC. Washington was one of the first states to really see COVID take hold in March. Among all of the state’s counties, Franklin County has seen the fifth highest number of coronavirus cases, with 2,409, The Times reports. The CDC notes that 778 of that total has emerged in the last two weeks, which is more than 30 percent. And things are growing rather quickly. The CDC says the county has seen incidences grow about 8 percent each day in the past two weeks.
