US coronavirus: As Covid-19 rates tick up in much of country, some communities loosen restrictions

For the country as a whole, though cases rates are down from a summer surge, they recently have inched up.

New daily cases over a week averaged about 42,000 as of Tuesday. That’s down from a peak average of 67,317 on July 22 — but it also is up about 22% since September 12, when it was at a two-month low of 34,307.

White House task force warns Wisconsin to practice ‘maximal’ social distancing

The White House coronavirus task force this week warned that Wisconsin experienced a “rapid worsening of the epidemic in the last week,” and called on the state to increase social distancing.

Wisconsin had the third-highest rate of new cases per capita last week and had a test-positivity rate of between 8% and 10%, the seventh highest in the country, the task force said in a report dated Sunday and obtained by CNN.

“To the maximal degree possible, increase social distancing mitigation measures until cases decline,” the letter reads.

Evers said Tuesday that Covid-19 cases in the state were “picking up speed.”

The state’s seven-day average of new daily cases hit its record for the pandemic Tuesday at 2,225, according to Johns Hopkins. That is up from 630 just six weeks ago.

“No party, no gathering, no bar is worth it,” Evers said.

The Midwest averaged 156 cases per 1 million people, against 124 in the South, 88 in the West and 51 in the Northeast, Johns Hopkins data show.

Kentucky governor says rise in cases should be ‘wake-up call’

In Kentucky, which saw its second highest daily new Covid-19 cases Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear called the increase a “wake-up call.”

“We can’t let this thing get out of control again because we’re tired,” Beshear said. “I said yesterday I believe we’re at the start of a new escalation. We’re certainly seeing that in today’s numbers.”

Experts have said the long months of the pandemic mean the US population is especially weary. Many across the country have given up on avoiding crowds and taking precautions and pushed for a return to normalcy — a fatigue officials say can be dangerous.

“We’ve got to work harder,” Beshear said. “This is a war, and we’ve won many battles, but we can’t walk away from the battlefield.”

In Missouri, health care officials say the state now is seeing the “highest hospitalization level” it’s experienced since the start of the pandemic.

“What we are seeing now in Missouri is widespread transmission throughout the state,” Missouri Hospital Association spokesperson Dave Dillon told CNN. “And those numbers are reflective of the fact that this is moving throughout communities and that it is not under control.”

A college student dies after Covid-19 complications

In North Carolina, an Appalachian State University student who was diagnosed with Covid-19 earlier this month has died after suffering later complications, Appalachian State Chancellor Sheri Everts said in a statement.

The student, Chad Dorrill, returned home and went into isolation after testing positive, Everts said. Dorrill returned to Boone, where the university is located, once he had been cleared by a doctor.

But after his return, the student suffered “additional complications” and was hospitalized, Everts said.

“Despite generally being at lower risk for severe illness, college-age adults can become seriously ill from COVID-19,” the chancellor said. “We are seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases in students.”

“All of us must remain vigilant with our safety behaviors wherever we are in our community.”