COVID Map Shows 4 US States With Highest Positive Cases

New data shows that people living in four states are still suffering the highest levels of COVID-19 infections in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska remain the worst-hit states as more people there have been diagnosed positive for the virus than elsewhere in the country.

Every week, the CDC produces a graphic of the U.S. showing the rates of people testing positive for coronavirus after taking a test. The percentage of positive cases are subsequently calculated and shown on a map, making it possible to compare different geographical areas. Results are no longer provided for individual states, but are instead recorded as an average across various administrative regions.

Region Seven—an administrative area consisting of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska—is again at the top of this chart, after being there for several weeks.

Published on Monday, but relating to the week through December 9, the latest results show that 17.2 percent of people tested positive in that region, out of 8,455 tests taken. Those figures are up 0.1 percent on last week's stats.

However, none of those four states were the worst in the country when it came to hospital admissions for COVID-19 in the course of the week.

Instead, California (which saw 2,449 admissions) was the worst-affected. While Texas (with 1,412 hospital admissions), Illinois (1,251), Ohio (1,165), Pennsylvania (1,120), and New York (1,717) also fared badly.

But the grimmest of the maps published by the CDC this week, showing the numbers of deaths due to Covid-19, shows Kentucky was ranked first.

Some 7.1 percent of deaths were due to the virus throughout the week in question. While Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and Maine all saw COVID deaths of between 4 and 5.9 percent.

As the weather turns colder and families prepare to gather for the holidays, there are fears there could be a jump in infections. Winter typically sees an increased spread in viruses and other illnesses, because people's immunity is lower, and one 2020 study suggested the COVID virus itself could remain active for longer in cold, dry conditions.

A CDC spokesperson previously told Newsweek that fall usually marked the "typical start of the respiratory virus season" and said hospitalization rates "could increase" heading into the winter months.

Localized rises through the summer prompted some private institutions, hospital operators and colleges in the U.S. to reintroduce the requirements for staff or visitors to wear masks while at their sites. Many have since relaxed their mask mandates, although some hospitals in New Jersey later brought them back in response to infection rates.