While new COVID-19 cases have been falling for weeks in the U.S., that decline has reached a plateau, and cases are up 25 percent in the Midwest, CNBC reported Nov. 10.
Nationwide, new cases have hovered between 70,000 and 75,000 per day for the last three weeks, and the Midwest now has the highest rate of daily new cases per capita.
U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations have decreased 12 percent over the last two weeks, though 17 states are still seeing hospitalization rates trend upward, according to data tracked by The New York Times.
Here's a look at four Midwestern states driving the region's increase in cases, and their hospitalization rates:
1. Minnesota
14-day change: 14 percent increase
Hospitalizations per 100,000 people: 21
On Nov. 10, Minnesota reported the highest number of daily COVID-19 hospitalizations —1,159 — for 2021, according to data from the state health department. The previous 2021 record had been set Nov. 9.
State case levels are around 3,000 per day, "among the highest we’ve seen so far in 2021," according to a Nov. 9 tweet from the health department.
2. Nebraska
14-day change: 13 percent increase
Hospitalizations per 100,000 people: 23
As of Nov. 11, the state is averaging 440 daily COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to the Times. The state is recording a 37 percent increase in COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days, with 42 cases reported per 100,000 residents.
3. Wisconsin
14-day change: 1 percent increase
Hospitalizations per 100,000 people: 18
The daily average of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Wisconsin was 1,059 as of Nov. 11. On Nov. 10, the Wisconsin Hospital Association reported treating 1,029 patients, marking the first time hospitalizations in the state topped 1,000 since Oct. 21, local FOX News affiliate WLUK reports. While hospitalizations are up just 1 percent over the last two weeks, cases are up 37 percent. Wisconsin's daily average of new cases was 2,895 as of Nov. 11.
4. Michigan
14-day change: 15 percent increase
Hospitalizations per 100,000 people: 26
Michigan's hospitalization rate is nearly double the national rate of 14 per 100,000. As of Nov. 10, there were 2,573 adults and 48 children hospitalized for COVID-19 across the state — totals similar to hospitalization levels seen at this time last year, before vaccines were available.
At least eight Michigan hospitals were at 100 percent bed occupancy as of Nov. 10.
"We have not seen a decline in cases. We have not seen a decline in hospitalizations," Anurag Malani, MD, director of infection prevention for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based St. Joseph Mercy Health System, said in a Nov. 9 report from the Detroit Free Press. "In fact, actually, this week our numbers are probably the highest they have been in the delta surge."