Coronavirus live updates: Cases rising sharply in Midwest, Rocky Mountain states

As colder weather across the northern part of the U.S. forces people indoors, many parts of the Upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain region appear poised to become the next hotspots in the outbreak’s ever-changing geography.

About 33 U.S. states or territories saw an increase in new cases last week compared to the previous week, according to data tracked by The Washington Post, with roughly the same number showing a similar surge over the past month.

Yet the highest increases per capita were all coming out mostly rural northern states, with new infections since Sept. 27 jumping about 14 percent in the Dakotas and Wisconsin and more than 20 percent in Montana.

New infection totals are also far higher than anything these regions have seen since the outbreak began. Of the dozen states that set record highs in the past week for their rolling weekly average of new cases, more than half are in the Midwest: Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. Another three — Utah, Montana and Wyoming — are in the Mountain West.

Until Sunday, Wisconsin had continuously set a new statewide record in new infections for 22 days straight, while Montana has continued reporting its highest-ever figures for 19 days and counting.

Several states in the Northeast — once the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak that had since been recovering — were also among those posting a large percentage increase. In the past week, New York posted an average of nearly 1,300 new infections — one of the highest such figures in the months since this spring’s devastation.

But numbers are proportionately much lower when compared to similar upticks in the Upper Midwest. The number of new infections per 10,000 people in North Dakota in the past week is at just under 1,320 — about 10 times higher than in New York.