States that had a grip on COVID now seeing a crush of cases

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

The COVID-19 surge that is sending hospitalizations to all-time highs in parts of the South is also clobbering states like Hawaii and Oregon that were once seen as pandemic success stories. After months in which they kept cases and hospitalizations at manageable rates, they are watching progress slip away as record numbers of patients overwhelm exhausted health care workers. Oregon — like Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana — has more people in the hospital with COVID-19 than at any other point in the pandemic. And Hawaii is about to reach that mark, too.