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Soaring numbers of COVID-19 cases have been recorded in more than a dozen states — as experts warn that the U.S. could see a resurgence if Americans let their guard down with more lax public health rules. Though the national case tally has fallen by 32.5% over the last month, there are 15 states that have seen their numbers increase by at least 10%, ABC News reported. Those states are:  Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and West Virginia. (Salo, 3/18)

Throughout the fall and winter, we saw a clear pattern—cases would rise, then hospitalizations about a week later, and finally, two weeks after that, deaths would follow. Nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities reported particularly heavy death tolls. If Michigan were to continue that pattern, we would expect hospitalizations to keep rising, and then more deaths. But as a spring surge takes hold in Michigan, two new factors—variants of concern and rising vaccination levels—mean that we don’t yet know how this new rise in cases and hospitalizations will play out. (3/18)

Europe has missed its chance to stop the third wave of the coronavirus epidemic before it got out of control. Now it's paying a high price for it, with new lockdowns being imposed across the continent. On Thursday night, France announced new restrictions on 16 regions, including Paris and Nice, though President Emmanuel Macron has refused to reimpose a national lockdown as cases soar. (Kottasova and Di Donato, 3/19)

A variant of the coronavirus first found in Brazil has been found in Omaha, state health officials said. On Wednesday, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services confirmed two people in Douglas County had tested positive for the so-called Brazil P.1 variant, the Omaha World-Herald reported. That strain is believed to be responsible for a surge in hospitalizations in Brazil even though many people there had already developed COVID-19 and made antibodies against it. (3/18)

Despite receiving a closure notice Sunday from Baltimore City’s health department over COVID-19 violations, a high-profile evangelical church has continued to hold services for the public, even livestreaming them online. Greater Grace World Outreach Church in Northeast Baltimore’s Frankford neighborhood was ordered to close after a service Sunday because of a lack of social distancing and masking, health officials said, and is not yet permitted to reopen. (Condon, 3/18)

A recent funeral in Carroll County where five mourners had to be hospitalized after contracting COVID-19, one of whom died. A youth wrestling tournament in nearby southern Pennsylvania a few weeks ago that turned into a superspreader event not because of the kids on the mat but because of the parents congregating close together in the stands. County Health Officer Ed Singer declined to get into specifics due to privacy issues, but he cited those two incidents while speaking during Thursday’s Board of Commissioners meeting to amplify Commissioner President Ed Rothstein’s earlier point about the COVID-19 pandemic: “It ain’t over yet.” (Blubaugh, 3/19)

States are pushing ahead with expanding Covid-19 vaccine access and rolling back restrictions on businesses and large gatherings as America seeks a return to normalcy. But experts say two barriers stand in the way of reaching herd immunity and getting back to life as we knew it -- Covid-19 variants and vaccine hesitancy. (Caldwell, 3/19)

Joseph Journel Ostin arrived in Portland from Haiti in 1994, seeking a better life for his family. In so many ways it was an audacious dream, as he spoke no English and had no job and no place to live. He made it happen through sacrifice, enduring optimism and hard work, always thinking about others, not himself, his family says. Ostin died of COVID-19, at age 77, in late January. On his death bed that last day, he made sure everyone knew he had money set aside for his church to be used for members who might need help while struggling with the economic fallout from the pandemic. (Hallman Jr., 3/18)