Across the U.S., COVID-19 cases are surging. Before July, the country had never recorded a single day in which more than 50,000 people tested positive for the virus. But state and local health agencies have reported more than 50,000 new daily cases for 10 of the first 12 days of July. The nationwide growth has been driven by alarming recent spikes in a handful of states.

Using data from state and local health departments, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed the average of new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases for the week ending July 12 and compared it to the average of new daily cases from the previous week to determine the states where the virus is growing the fastest. For comparison purposes, we adjusted the number of confirmed cases per 100,000 people. Data is as of July 12 for all states except for Delaware and Oregon, for which data is as of July 10.

The nation averaged 16.2 new cases per day per 100,000 people from July 6 to July 12 — up from 13.6 per 100,000 from June 29 to July 5. Just seven states reported a decline in the number of cases per capita between those two weeks, five of which are located in the Northeast, which was hit especially hard by the pandemic during its early weeks in March and April.

Many Southern states, like Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, were not hit especially hard early on but are now experiencing a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. This spike is being driven by a surge in cases in some of the states’ largest metro areas. Each state has multiple cities which average at least 10 more new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 per day in the most recent week compared to the week before. These are the cities where COVID-19 is growing the fastest.

No states have, as of yet, returned to a complete shutdown, though some are postponing their plans to further reopen. Others are reinstituting some social distancing policies that had been previously relaxed. These are every state’s rules for staying home and social distancing.

Click here to see the states where the virus is growing the fastest