Public health officials and modelers are keeping a watchful eye on cities they think could see a spike in cases in the next two weeks, The Hill reports.
With cases on the decline, many cities have relaxed lockdown orders. As cities resume activity, health officials are worried that there will be a spike in virus transmissions.
Public health officials predict Houston, Dallas, Nashville and Memphis could emerge as new hotspots. Modelers are also tracking suburban areas like Fairfax County in Virginia, and areas around Minneapolis, Phoenix and Omaha.
“We think there's a storm out there, there's the potential for a storm. We're not sure if it's going to land on shore,” David Rubin, director of the PolicyLab at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, whose models show the possible surges, told The Hill. “The next two to three weeks are going to be really important.”
Rubin’s model shows that several large cities will see an increase of cases. Predictions show the number of new daily cases reported rising to 500 by June 1 and then reaching more than 1,000 per day a week after that.
Epidemiologists said the impact from people ignoring social distancing measures over Memorial Day weekend will be a telling sign.
“We need to see what happened Memorial Day weekend,” George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at the University of California-San Francisco, told The Hill. “We're certainly flirting at the edge, and it'd be great if we dodged a bullet, but I think we need to know that as a fact.”
According to analysis by The Hill, 26 states reported more cases last week than the week prior. Only 13 states reported case counts declining for two straight weeks.
North Dakota, which hadn't seen many cases, announced a large spike on two days last week. Arizona emergency rooms reported a large number of coronavirus cases over the weekend. In North Carolina, more than 700 people remain hospitalized, which is the highest number of hospitalizations the state has reported, according to The Hill.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.