Counties in Florida, Iowa worry CDC as emerging coronavirus 'areas of concern'

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities are worried about new coronavirus outbreaks in a number of counties, including in states that have eased lockdown restrictions, like Florida and Alabama, according to a document reviewed by Yahoo News. A list of “areas of concern” also includes persistent hot spots in Midwestern states — including three in Iowa and one each in South Dakota and Nebraska — that are home to major meat processing plants.

The list, which has not otherwise been made public, comes from a document created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and disseminated to other federal agencies.

The CDC ranks the top nine counties and one independent city with rising infection levels. Most of those counties are either in the Midwest or the Southeast, where mostly Republican governors have been quick to reopen their states.

The 18-page document, titled “CDC COVID-19 Response Update May 27, 2020,” contains state-by-state analysis, as well as more detailed county breakdowns. The report comes as the nation enters its fourth full month of battling the disease, which has sickened nearly 2 million Americans and killed 108,000.

https://news.yahoo.com/counties-in-florida-iowa-worry-cdc-as-emerging-coronavirus-areas-of-concern-175408245.html