Pandemic Geography: What's Going on in Michigan? Public health experts may speculate about whether the U.S. is headed for a fourth surge or moderate increase in cases, but the resurgence is well underway in Michigan where the virus was spreading the fastest. Only N.Y. has more daily infections. April 4, 2021, 5am PDT | Irvin Dawid Share Global coronavirus infections are rising rapidly, 23% in the last two weeks, according to The New York Times database on April 3. "Steady increases in cases are concentrated in Brazil and surrounding countries, the northern US and Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia," according to the weekly newsletter posted April 2 by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. "These epidemics can be largely attributed to the spread of variants, and in the case of the US, an overly hasty re-opening may be to blame."