U.S. COVID update (June 23): Cases continue to rise

COVID cases continued to rise across large parts of the United States this week, with notable upticks in Indiana, Puerto Rico, Florida, and California, according to statistics collected by BNO News. At the same time, COVID levels remain relatively low compared to the winter months.

At least 80,464 new cases were reported between June 17 and June 23, up from 65,816 the week before. Those figures were collected from state health departments and, where necessary, estimated based on hospital admissions.

Actual case numbers are higher because many hospitals and states are no longer reporting detailed COVID data. Laboratory testing is also low because most people are using at-home tests which are not included in official statistics.

During the past week, cases increased in 23 out of 27 states with consistent but limited data. Notable increases were reported in Indiana (+43%), Puerto Rico (+30%), Florida (+29%), California (+26%), New York (+24%) and Tennessee (+25%).

It’s currently estimated that COVID cases are increasing in 39 states and territories (an increase of 5), declining in 0 states or territories, and stable or uncertain in 10 states and territories. Nationally, COVID test positivity is 6.6%, up from 5.4% last week.

Only 35% of hospitals in the U.S. submitted COVID data this week, which is similar to last week but down from 91% in early May. Those limited figures show that at least 1,768 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID, up from 1,707 last week.

459 new COVID deaths were reported during the week, up from last week, when 413 deaths were reported. This marks the 223rd week in a row with more than 400 new COVID deaths in the U.S., or nearly 1.2 million during the same period.

So far this year, more than 3.4 million COVID cases have been reported in the U.S., causing 293,494 hospitalizations and 31,167 deaths, according to BNO’s COVID data tracker.

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