Coronavirus cases rising in 22 U.S. states

According to a Reuters analysis, coronavirus cases are rising in 22 of 50 U.S. states.

The news comes during the Labor Day holiday weekend, where many in America host cookouts and family gatherings to mark the end of the summer.

Most of the 22 states where cases are now rising are in the less-populated parts of the Midwest and South.

South Dakota had the biggest increase over the past two weeks at 126%, while Iowa saw 13,600 new infections in the past two weeks, and North Dakota had 3,600 new cases in the same period.

Just three weeks ago, cases were rising in only three states, Hawaii, Illinois and South Dakota.

Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Face the Nation Sunday warned that the coronavirus pandemic will likely continue to run its course for the rest of 2020, and then, start to wane in 2021.

“You know, the reality is that if we continue to see spread at the rate that we're seeing it now or something higher than what we're seeing it now, by the end of the year, upwards of 20% of the population in the US could have been exposed to this coronavirus. // And so this could run its course in 2020. And as we get into 2021 start to slow down.”

While cases nationally have dropped from a peak in July, the United States is going into the Labor Day holiday weekend with an average of 44,000 new cases a day -- double the number ahead of the May 23-25 Memorial Day weekend.

Many health experts partly blame the July spike on social gatherings held around Memorial Day.

The re-opening of schools and colleges, and large gatherings taking place despite the warnings of health experts are also contributing to rises in U.S. cases.

The government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said that it is crucial that the outbreak be contained before the cold weather sets in, when influenza cases are likely to spike alongside COVID-19 and more people begin to move indoors, increasing the risk of contagion.