‘Darkest red’ for the coronavirus surge: Task force pleads with states to do more

Introduction

Update: Dec. 17, 4 p.m.: This story has been updated with new details about access to the task force reports.

The White House Coronavirus Task Force this week added a new color to its maps — “darkest red” — as it tried to convey the severity of the surge in coronavirus cases and deaths in weekly reports to governors. But the White House has stopped sending the reports to states unless officials specifically request them, further restricting access to recommendations intended to save lives.  

“The fall surge is merging with the post-Thanksgiving surge to create a winter surge with the most rapid increase in cases; the widest spread, with more than 2,000 counties in COVID red zones; and the longest duration, now entering the 9th week, we have experienced,” the task force wrote. “Many Americans continue to gather indoors, creating private spreading events.”

For a second week in a row, 49 states and the District of Columbia were in the task force’s red zone for new cases, with more than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents in the previous week. Rhode Island, Ohio and North Dakota were at the top of the rankings. Hawaii was the only state not in the red zone.

Forty-eight states plus the District of Columbia — four more than in last week’s report — were also in the red zone for deaths, with more than two per 100,000 residents in the previous week. Iowa and the Dakotas were in the lead. Washington and Hawaii were the only states not in that red zone.

The task force again urged states to implement stricter measures to control the spread of the virus.

“Mitigation efforts must increase, including key state and local policies,” the task force wrote. “Increase physical distancing through significant reduction in capacity or closure in public and private indoor spaces, including restaurants and bars.” 

But states must now request the reports if they want to know the task force’s advice, according to a federal official who works with the Department of Health and Human Services. That’s a change from previous weeks.

Public Integrity obtained Dec. 13 reports for four states — North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington — but spokespeople for 13 other states said on Thursday that they had not yet received their reports. It’s not clear if they knew they now need to request them. 

Oklahoma was among the states that did not receive a report and indicated on Twitter that it did not know why. “The cause for the delay is currently unknown,” Oklahoma’s health department wrote in a tweet. 

A spokesman for a state that received its report said he asked about the document via email and was sent it from Vice President Mike Pence’s office. The spokesman received no earlier instruction from the White House that he would need to request it.

The White House has never made the reports public, but until now it has sent them weekly to governors and some state health officials. The Center for Public Integrity is collecting and publishing them. The White House previously said it did not publish the documents because it wanted states to lead the pandemic response. 

The reports represent one of the primary forms of communication between the White House Coronavirus Task Force and states, other than occasional calls and cross-country tours from Dr. Deborah Birx, a leader of the task force. 

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

In the reports, the task force repeated its urgent advice from last week — that no one should gather maskless and indoors with others outside of their immediate household, that seniors should get groceries and medications delivered, that young people who gathered with others should assume they contracted the virus and isolate and get tested. 

“Warn about any gathering during December holidays,” the task force told governors.

The task force urged states to consider carefully who should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccines, saying that immunizing the elderly will save the most lives. The task force last week told governors that Americans need to remain vigilant because widespread vaccination will not happen until spring.

1. Rhode Island
2. Ohio
3. North Dakota
4. Indiana
5. Tennessee
6. Alaska
7. Idaho
8. Nevada
9. South Dakota
10. Kansas
11. Utah
12. Arizona
13. Minnesota
14. Delaware
15. Pennsylvania
16. New Mexico
17. Nebraska
18. California
19. Wyoming
20. Connecticut
21. Oklahoma
22. Kentucky
23. Colorado
24. Montana
25. Wisconsin
26. Alabama
27. Illinois
28. Massachusetts
29. Arkansas
30. West Virginia
31. Mississippi
32. New Hampshire
33. Missouri
34. Michigan
35. North Carolina
36. Iowa
37. New Jersey
38. South Carolina
39. Louisiana
40. New York
41. Georgia
42. Maryland
43. Virginia
44. Florida
45. Texas 
46. Washington
47. District of Columbia
48. Oregon
49. Maine
50. Vermont

The states in the red zone for test positivity in this week’s report (more than 10 percent of tests in the state were positive in the week prior):

1. Nevada
2. Idaho
3. Oklahoma
4. Kansas
5. Nebraska
6. Missouri
7. Alabama
8. Utah
9. Arizona
10. Montana
11. Indiana
12. Virginia
13. Mississippi
14. Pennsylvania
15. Ohio
16. South Dakota
17. New Mexico
18. Iowa
19. New Hampshire
20. South Carolina
21. Texas
22. Kentucky
23. Michigan
24. Georgia
25. New Jersey
26. Illinois
27. Wyoming
28. Wisconsin
29. Arkansas
30. Minnesota
31. North Carolina
32. Colorado
33. West Virginia

The states in the red zone for deaths (more than two new deaths per 100,000 residents in the week prior): 

1. Iowa
2. North Dakota
3. South Dakota
4. Illinois
5. Kansas
6. Arkansas
7. Wyoming
8. Rhode Island
9. Pennsylvania
10. Colorado
11. New Mexico
12. Michigan
13. Indiana
14. Nebraska
15. Minnesota
16. West Virginia
17. Montana
18. Wisconsin
19. Mississippi
20. Nevada
21. Idaho
22. Tennessee
23. Connecticut
24. Missouri
25. Alabama
26. Massachusetts
27. Arizona
28. Louisiana
29. Ohio
30. New Jersey
31. Texas
32. Maryland
33. Oklahoma
34. Florida
35. Oregon
36. Utah
37. Georgia
38. Kentucky
39. California
40. New Hampshire
41. North Carolina
42. New York
43. Delaware
44. Vermont
45. Virginia
46. South Carolina
47. Maine
48. District of Columbia
49. Alaska

The states in the red zone for COVID-19 hospital admissions (more than 15 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100 beds in the week prior):

1. Arizona
2. Maryland
3. Arkansas
4. Kentucky
5. New Mexico
6. Pennsylvania
7. Oklahoma
8. District of Columbia
9. Nevada
10. Ohio
11. Missouri
12. Wisconsin
13. California
14. Illinois
15. Georgia
16. Indiana
17. New Jersey
18. Colorado
19. Delaware
20. Kansas
21. Alabama
22. Michigan
23. Montana
24. North Carolina
25. Wyoming
26. Virginia
27. Connecticut
28. Minnesota
29. Tennessee
30. Texas
31. South Carolina
32. Oregon
33. West Virginia
34. Nebraska
35. South Dakota
36. New Hampshire
37. North Dakota
38. New York