COVID Map Update Reveals Worst Hit US States

The number of COVID-19 tests coming back positive is on the decline across the U.S., new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data reveals. 6.6 percent of all COVID-19 tests had a positive result for the week ending January 11, 2025. This marks a drop from the 6.9 percent test positivity rate the week before, which ending January 4. The Midwest had the highest rates of COVID-19 test positivity of any region, with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin all seeing an 8.9 percent rate of tests coming back positive. This region also saw the highest rates of test positivity the week before, albeit slightly higher at 9.2 percent. Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska all had a 7.4 percent test positivity rate, while Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont had a 6 percent rate, and Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia (as well as D.C.) had a 5.9 percent positivity rate. In the middle, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington saw 5.4 percent of COVID-19 tests come back positive, while Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming seeing 5.3 percent positivity rates and Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas 4.6 percent. The states with the lowest rates of COVID-19 tests coming back positive included New Jersey and New York at 4.1 percent, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee at 3.7 percent, and Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada at 3.1 percent. Respiratory illnesses like the flu, common cold, and COVID-19 tend to spread more in the winter. This is mainly because people spend more time indoors during colder months, which also often have poor ventilation compared to open-air environments, increasing the concentration of airborne viruses. Winter air is also less humid, which helps viruses stay viable in the air for longer periods, and cold air can dry out the mucous membranes in the nose and throat, which weakens their ability to trap and expel viruses. "Many respiratory virus illnesses peak during the winter due to environmental conditions and human behaviors," a CDC spokesperson previously told Newsweek. "COVID-19 has peaks in the winter and at other times of the year, including the summer, driven by new variants and decreasing immunity from previous infections and vaccinations." The CDC data also reveals that 1.3 percent of visits to the emergency room around the U.S. were diagnosed as COVID-19 during the same time period, down 0.6 percent from the week before. Additionally, 1.8 percent of deaths were due to COVID-19, marking a 28.6 percent rise from the week prior. Is there a health problem that's worrying you? Do you have a question about COVID-19? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.