coronavirus spread in the U.S. is driving case totals to highs last seen six months ago. For much of last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported daily case numbers upwards of 100,000, with Thursday’s high of nearly 147,000 not previously seen since late January.
On Sunday, the U.S. led the world in new cases reported with over 38,400 new illnesses, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Iran followed with under 37,000 cases reported. The surge comes amid the rapid rise of the delta variant, which the CDC projects to account for a majority of coronavirus in the U.S.
Death counts are also rising, with Friday’s 804 new deaths a high not seen since the end of March, when the seven-day moving average of.