Covid-19 Global News Tracker: Live Updates

On Mar 16, 2022

A testing site in Memphis this month. — Credit…Whitten Sabbatini for The New York Times

As coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths soar to new heights in the United States, Tennessee has become one of the worst-hit states, spurring the governor to warn residents against gathering and traveling for the holidays.

The state is identifying cases at the highest per capita rate in the nation by a wide margin. At least 9,265 new cases and 65 deaths were reported in Tennessee on Monday, according to a New York Times database. Over the last week, there has been an average of 8,953 cases per day, an increase of about 90 percent from the average two weeks earlier. Eight of the nation’s 20 metropolitan areas with the most recent cases per capita are in Tennessee.

“Tennessee is ground zero for a surge in sickness,” Gov. Bill Lee said in an address on Sunday from quarantine, the day after he announced that his wife has tested positive for the virus.

Arguing that Thanksgiving gatherings led quickly to a “record level of sickness,” Gov. Lee urged residents not to gather indoors with anyone outside their household over the upcoming holidays, despite the rollout of vaccines.

“We are in a war,” he said, stressing that the next few weeks would be critical for the state to avoid overwhelming hospitals already reeling from the Thanksgiving spike. “Tennessee cannot sustain a similar surge after Christmas or New Year’s.”

The stark warning comes as the virus explodes in the United States — parts of California are down to their last I.C.U. beds, and some hospitals in other states are at or over capacity — and the numbers are as alarming as they have ever been: At least 319,763 people have died, more than any other country in the world. On Monday, confirmed cases in the United States reached 18 million, just five days after surpassing 17 million.

This worrisome trajectory is evident in the South, where Georgia, Arkansas and South Carolina have all set weekly case records. Henry McMaster, the governor of South Carolina, tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday, several days after his wife also received a positive test, according to a statement from his office.

Both had tested negative on Dec. 14 before attending a White House Christmas event, but “there is no way to pinpoint precisely when or how Governor McMaster or the First Lady contracted the virus,” the statement said.

Gov. Lee became the latest governor to try to starkly limit indoor public gatherings, with new restrictions on dining and sporting events. Yet he declined to issue a statewide mask mandate, which he called “controversial.” Instead, he urged residents to wear masks and stressed the role of local officials in imposing such rules.

Governors on both coasts are also moving to counter the spread of a newly discovered virus variant circulating in Britain. Alarm about the variant has prompted dozens of countries to put in place some sort of travel regulation.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced on Monday that British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines have agreed to require a negative coronavirus test result from passengers boarding flights from Britain to New York.

On Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo called for the United States to mandate testing for all international arrivals, a policy already enforced by at least 120 countries. The United States has yet to impose such a health measure.

“I think actually the United States should say we should test before anyone comes from any country, because the U.K. variant now has already migrated.” Mr. Cuomo said.

Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington State has stopped short of new testing requirements but ordered that travelers from Britain and South Africa, where a similar variant has also been seen, undergo a 14-day quarantine. He said more countries may be added to the travel proclamation.