Peak of third COVID-19 wave still weeks away

The skyrocketing number of new coronavirus infections in the United States is likely to climb further over the next several weeks, even in the hardest-hit areas where soaring case loads are starting to overwhelm hospitals and medical facilities.

New cases appear to be reaching a peak in the Dakotas and Iowa, where infections are at their highest levels since the pandemic began. But most states experiencing a COVID-19 surge are weeks behind those epicenters as tens of thousands of people test positive every week.

“It’s starting to plateau in relatively few locations, but it’s giving us a sense that many areas could continue to experience this into January,” said David Rubin, a physician who runs the PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “This is a hard period.”

A January peak would put the height of the coronavirus pandemic around the time of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Forty-three states and the District of Columbia recorded more cases last week than the week prior. More than 1 percent of North Dakota’s population tested positive for the coronavirus this week, as did nearly one in 100 residents in Wyoming.