New virus cases have reached record levels in the Midwest

Casenumberssurgedinthe Northeast this spring. They spiked early this summer in the South and the West. And now, even as parts of thecountry experiencerapid improvement, reportsofnew infections have soared in the Midwest.

Nationally, new coronavirus cases reported daily droppedtofewerthan40,000 inmid-Septemberfromapeak of more than 66,000 cases in late July. But that trend overlooks the pandemic’s complicated geography. Improvement in one region can come as another experiences increased suffffffffffffering.

Through Friday, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Iowa had added more recent cases per capita than all other states. As restrictions were loosened around the country, some local governments in theMidwest urgedpeopletotake the virusmoreseriously, andconsideredpossiblenewlimitson bars and face mask requirements in public.

“When things opened up, it was like, ‘We’re ready to party,’” said Dr. Steve Stites, the chief medical offifficer for the University of Kansas Health System. Kansas has seensome of itshighest daily caseaveragesinrecentweeks. “Wedidn’tgettheinitialsurge that NewYork did, so people weren’tasshellshocked.” But, he added, “all of the sudden, that caught up with us.”

Theuptickshaveprompted alarmand fear in places that had until now avoided the worst of the pandemic.

“Ourcommunity is experiencing its fifirst sustained, signifificant surge of illness since thisterriblepandemicbegan,” said Joe Parisi, the county executive in Dane County,

Wisconsin, which includes Madison.“Wewillhave some incredibly diffifficult and sad weeks ahead ifwedon’t rally together now and stop this deeply disturbing trend.”

The rise of infection in the Midwest is different from what happened in Brooklyn inMarchor in south Texas in July. So far, hospitalizations have not spiked. Morgues havenot beenoverrun. Lockdownshavenotbeenordered.

Young adults, who often havemildercasesofthevirus, arehelpingtodrivethis surge in cases. Thousands of infectionshavebeenlinkedtoMidwestern universities, some of which have struggled to enforcesocialdistancingrules. Although college outbreaks are not unique to the region, the scale of those outbreaks, giventherelativelysmallpopulations of states like South DakotaandNorthDakota, has had an outsize effffffffffffect.