Arizona, Roiled by Covid in Summer, Faces Even Worse Outbreak Now The state has the highest rate of new virus cases in the U.S. amid a grim winter surge that has sent hospitalizations and deaths soaring nationally. A Covid-19 testing site in Phoenix last month. As a new year begins, Arizona is again in dire shape, with a higher rate of new cases than any other state.Credit...Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times Published Jan. 5, 2021Updated Jan. 12, 2021 The summer surge that raged across the Sun Belt started in Arizona. For more than a month, from early June until mid July, the state added cases at the highest per capita rate in the country. Thousands died. Hospitals were stretched thin. At the peak, more than 3,800 cases were emerging each day.