U.S. Cases Hit Pandemic Low; China Denies Lab Link: Virus Update Bloomberg 1 hr ago New coronavirus infections in the U.S. rose at the slowest pace of the pandemic in the past week, a sign the nation’s vaccination campaign is cutting down on the spread of the deadly pathogen. China accused the U.S. of promoting theories that the coronavirus escaped from a high-security lab in Wuhan, as a fresh report about sick workers at the facility prompted Beijing to reaffirm denials. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that under-vaccinated areas in the U.S. could become hot spots for a mutation of the coronavirus first detected in India and is increasing surveillance of the more-transmissible variant.