New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed the latest figures for COVID-19 in the United States, based on data from the week ending December 21.
The national test positivity rate is 7. 5%, up 1. 9% from last week, with clear regional differences in where more COVID-19 tests come back positive.
The states with the percentage of positive tests are in Region 10, the Northwest, with 9. 4 percent: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
The fifth region is close at 9. 2% in the Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
On the other end of the spectrum, the lowest COVID-19 positivity rates are in Region 9, in the West, at 1. 5%: Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
There are also lower-than-average positivity rates in Region Four (Florida to Kentucky), Region 3 (Virginia to Pennsylvania), and Region 2 (New York and New Jersey).
In the rest of the country (in the north, the south-central and the most eastern states) the rates are five or more.
“Many respiratory viral illnesses peak in winter due to environmental and human behavior,” a CDC spokesperson told Newsweek.
“COVID-19 has peaks in the winter and at other times of the year, including the summer, driven by new variants and decreasing immunity from previous infections and vaccinations.”
The spokesperson explained that apparent regional differences were more complicated when bearing in mind other ways CDC measures COVID-19 levels, including emergency department visits and wastewater viral activity levels.
“Taken together, a more complex geographic trend of COVID-19 activity is known to be occurring lately, which is expected as these are early symptoms of a winter (seasonal) surge. “
In the week ending December 21, 1. 1% of deaths were due to COVID-19, according to the CDC.
Additionally, 0. 9% of weekly emergency room visits were similar to COVID-19, in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire and New Mexico.
However, the weekly rate of COVID-19-related hospitalizations has declined from last week, from 1. 6 compared to 100,000 for the week ending Dec. 21, to 2. 1 the week before and 2. 0 last week.
In total, there have been more than 1. 2 million COVID-19 deaths in the United States since the pandemic began.
The CDC spokesperson said anyone 6 months of age and older should get the COVID-19 vaccine for the 2024-2025 season.
“The COVID-19 vaccine is helping you from serious illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths,” they said.
Is there a health problem that’s worrying you? Do you have a question about COVID-19? Let us know via [email protected]. We can ask experts for advice and your story could be featured in Newsweek.
Correction 06/01/2025, 8:12 am ET: This article has been updated to explain that there have been 1. 2 million deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and not in the last 3 months.
Hatty Willmoth is a Newsweek food and nutrition reporter based in London, UK. He has extensively covered special diets, gut fitness and functional medicine. Hatty joined Newsweek in 2024 after leaving the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) and has previously worked at Time & Leisure and South West Londoner, and written freelance articles for The Independent, Fit&Well, Sussex Bylines and Earn It. In July 2024 she won an independent journalism award in the early career category for her research on the Bruderhof community. He graduated from the University of Cambridge and News Associates. You can contact Hatty by emailing h. willmoth@newsweek. com or messaging on social media (@hattywillmoth). He speaks English and a little French.