The Atlantic

The Pandemic Is Crashing Through the South and the West

Five states—Arizona, California, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas—account for 40 percent of all new cases reported in the past seven days.
Source: Getty / The Atlantic

Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here.

We’ll begin with the good news: In every midwestern state—and in several others—COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are declining. Elsewhere, however, the picture is mixed. In several large states, already large outbreaks appear to be rapidly worsening—and despite intense interest in how Thanksgiving gatherings affected reported cases, even public-health experts have found it difficult to interpret the numbers we’ve seen.

Other news this week is tragically easy to interpret: As of yesterday, December is already since the beginning of

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