Covid cases are rising fastest in these states

As the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, several states have been easing restrictions, including mask mandates, amid the ongoing pandemic. Some parts of the country have reported a

"growth in new cases over the past two weeks," including several states in the eastern and northwestern regions, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced that vaccines would be administered through an additional 700 community health centers, local pharmacies, mobile vans and other

locations. President Joe Biden said at the time: "We're going to go from the million shots a day that I promised in December, before I was sworn in, to beating our current pace of

2 million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world," in his first public address since becoming president. As of Tuesday, a total of 45,533,962 people (13.7 percent of the

country's total population) have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the latest report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Total confirmed

cases in the country have surpassed 29.9 million, with 544,131 total reported deaths, as of Wednesday, according to JHU. Here we look at states where the seven-day average of new cases

reported on March 22 increased from the figure recorded two weeks earlier on March 8, based on the latest data reported by the CDC. The case counts below for New York City and the rest of

New York State are shown separately, as indicated by the CDC. MICHIGAN * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 3,274 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 1,568 * Difference:

1,706 NEW JERSEY * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 4,050 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 3,202 * Difference: 848 PENNSYLVANIA * Seven-day average of new cases on

March 22: 2,976 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 2,413 * Difference: 563 MINNESOTA * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 1165 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8:

750 * Difference: 415 MASSACHUSETTS * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 1580 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 1203 * Difference: 377 CONNECTICUT * Seven-day average of

new cases on March 22: 937 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 681 * Difference: 256 NEW YORK STATE (NOT INCLUDING NEW YORK CITY) * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22:

3,508 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 3,307 * Difference: 201 ILLINOIS * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 1,852 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 1,668 *

Difference: 184 MARYLAND * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 958 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 785 * Difference: 173 WEST VIRGINIA * Seven-day average of new cases

on March 22: 346 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 225 * Difference: 121 TENNESSEE * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 1,264 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8:

1,173 * Difference: 101 VIRGINIA * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 1,441 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 1,367 * Difference: 74 NEW HAMPSHIRE * Seven-day average of

new cases on March 22: 276 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 210 * Difference: 66 WASHINGTON * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 782 * Seven-day average of new cases on

March 8: 717 * Difference: 65 DELAWARE * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 259 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 211 * Difference: 48 ALASKA * Seven-day average of new

cases on March 22: 119 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 78 * Difference: 41 MAINE * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 198 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8:

159 * Difference: 39 IDAHO * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 300 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 263 * Difference: 37 MONTANA * Seven-day average of new cases on

March 22: 166 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 136 * Difference: 30 SOUTH DAKOTA * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 189 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8:

160 * Difference: 29 HAWAII * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 74 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 46 * Difference: 28 OREGON Seven-day average of new cases on March

22: 274 Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 246 Difference: 28 RHODE ISLAND * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 364 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 341 *

Difference: 23 NORTH DAKOTA * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 102 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 79 * Difference: 23 NEW YORK CITY * Seven-day average of new cases

on March 22: 3,732 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8: 3,718 * Difference: 14 NEBRASKA * Seven-day average of new cases on March 22: 279 * Seven-day average of new cases on March 8:

276 * Difference: 3 THE WIDER PICTURE Coronavirus has infected more than 124.3 million people, since it was first reported in Wuhan, China. More than 2.7 million people have died worldwide

and more than 70.6 million have recovered as of Wednesday, according to JHU. The graphic below, produced by Statista, illustrates the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. The graphic below,

produced by Statista, illustrates countries with the most COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per 100,000 people. _Newsweek, in partnership with NewsGuard, is dedicated to providing accurate

and verifiable vaccine and health information. With NewsGuard's HealthGuard browser extension, users can verify if a website is a trustworthy source of health information. Visit the

Newsweek VaxFacts website to learn more and to download the HealthGuard browser extension._