Cases are surging in northern states — to record levels in some areas — as America's hottest COVID-19 hotspots are once again places with the coldest winters. The annual human retreat to indoor spaces has abetted transmission in places like Michigan, Minnesota and Vermont —and created new dilemmas for Canadians. Over the long term, most of the hardest-hit states have been in the U.S. South, where death rates have generally been higher . Vaccination makes a huge difference in outcomes and is believed to be why some of the states with higher current case rates aren't suffering much higher death rates . For example, Michigan has a lower-than-average vaccination rate among U.S. states and has just smashed its hospitalization record for COVID-19.

Source: CBC News December 11, 2021 06:22 UTC