A third of U.S. states are reporting higher coronavirus case counts than they've ever had before.
A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data shows 16 states set records for new cases in a week. But nearly all states are surging: 41 states had worse weeks than they did a week earlier. And an analysis of COVID Tracking Project data shows that in 36 states, a higher rate of people were testing positive than in the week before.
While the data continues to show the virus' reach is not letting up, the head of the World Health Organization said achieving herd immunity by allowing the virus to spread is "scientifically and ethically problematic."
"Herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it," WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said Monday, adding that the strategy relies on vaccination.