Tri-State hospitals urge patients, staff to mask up amid spike in COVID, flu, RSV With flu, COVID and RSV infections on the rise amid the holiday season, hospitals in New York and New Jersey are issuing an urgent plea: mask up! ABC7 New York

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COVID map update: major shift in U.S. states with highest rates A new cluster of states across the country has seen a significant spike in the recorded COVID-19 cases. Newsweek

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For the week ending August 31, the CDC reported that 16.3 percent of all COVID-19 tests performed in the U.S.—excluding at-home test results—were coming back positive. This is a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous week, but the infection rates have not been evenly distributed across the country.

The below map illustrates the distribution of positive tests in the U.S., divided into 10 Health and Human Service regions.

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US COVID activity remains elevated as some indicators decline Though most indicators showed downward trends, deaths were up compared to the previous week. CIDRAP

The nation's COVID activity remains high, but there are more signs of decline in many areas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest updates.

Test positivity showed another small decline and is at 16.4% nationally, but is higher in the Midwest and Middle Atlantic. Emergency department visits declined 10.2% from the previous week, but are still at the moderate level in some of the southeastern states....