As the latest variants – EG.5 (also called Eris) and the newly emergent BA.2.86 strain (nicknamed Pirola) – push COVID-19 cases to new levels across America, and some local hospitals, schools, and businesses are reinstating mask mandates, certain states are emerging as new hotspots where the virus is spreading most rapidly.

To determine the states where COVID-19 is the worst right now, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on recent COVID-19 hospital admissions and other associated metrics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States were ranked based on the number of hospital admissions due to COVID-19 per 100,000 state residents in the week ending Aug. 19, 2023.

There are some obvious regional disparities in current COVID-19 cases: States in the South, such as Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, consistently exhibit higher rates of new weekly hospital admissions as well as cumulative hospital admissions, cumulative deaths, and test positivity rates. This suggests that these regions have faced a more severe and prolonged impact from the virus. (There are three COVID-related entries on our list of the 24 biggest scandals last year.)

Conversely, states in the Northeast tend to have lower figures in these categories. Hawaii, despite having the highest new weekly COVID-19 hospital admission rate, at 9.7 per 100,000, stands out for its lower cumulative hospital admissions and deaths and a moderately high test positivity rate of 14.0%, indicating effective containment measures and healthcare management. (These are the states with the most health-conscious residents.)

Click here to see the states where the COVID-19 surge is the worst right now

Some states, like Florida and Texas, exhibit high numbers across the board, indicating a complex and ongoing battle with the virus, possibly because of their larger populations. Florida, for example, faces substantial challenges with 9.4 new weekly COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, the second highest.

Methodology

To determine the states where COVID-19 is the worst right now, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on recent COVID-19 hospital admissions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States were ranked based on the number of hospital admissions due to COVID-19 per 100,000 state residents in the week ending Aug. 19, 2023. Supplemental data on the total number of recorded COVID-19 hospital admissions since Aug. 1, 2020, the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 since January 2020, and the COVID-19 test positivity rate in the week ending Aug. 19, 2023, also came from the CDC. Population data used to adjust hospital admission and death counts per capita came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population and Housing Unit Estimates program and are for July 1, 2022.