CDC Director Warns of ‘Impending Doom’ as Cases Rise

“A lot of the spread is happening among younger people,” he said. “That’s the group that is moving around, kind of relaxing, getting infected.”

States are beginning to lift their COVID-19 restrictions, and spring break crowds have overwhelmed some areas, such as southern Florida. Governors and health officials have expressed concerns about the latest coronavirus data in their states.

Michigan, for instance, is already in the middle of another COVID-19 surge, with most cases increasing in ages 10-19, Joneigh Khaldun, MD, the state’s chief medical executive, told CNN on Sunday. Community spread is happening as people gather and businesses reopen.

New York and New Jersey now have the highest COVID-19 case rates in the county, according to the New York Post. New Jersey has averaged 647 cases per 100,000 residents, and New York has average 548 cases per 100,000. The increases seem to be linked to relaxed restrictions and coronavirus variants, the newspaper reported.

In Illinois, state officials said on Friday that rapid response vaccination teams were being deployed to several counties to address the increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

“We don’t want to go down the same path we’ve seen before and experience a resurgence in the pandemic,” Ngozi Ezike, MD, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said in a statement on Friday. “We cannot move forward if our metrics are going backward.”

Vermont officials reported the highest single-day case total on Friday since the beginning of the pandemic, with more than 250 new infections.

New Hampshire has also reported an increase in the average number of daily new cases and the test positivity rate, especially among teens and people in their 20s. The cases will likely continue and lead to a “spring surge,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement on Thursday.

In Pennsylvania, the cases and positivity rates increased last week, and 25 counties had substantial transmission, Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement last week.

Iowa reported a 34% increase in daily cases last week, which was the largest change during a week since early January, when cases increased 36% following holiday travel, according to KCRG, an ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids.