Wyoming has the highest COVID-19 reproduction rate, while South Carolina has the lowest, according to rt.live. 

Two U.S. senators have backed bills to eliminate financial barriers that keep many pregnant women from getting vaccines, reports The 19th News.

Immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases should be required for healthcare workers as a condition of employment, a prominent group of infectious disease specialists said.

More than 90 percent of U.S. adults say they think healthcare workers should be prioritized when a vaccine against the new coronavirus becomes available, a new survey shows.

The number of COVID-19 tests conducted daily in the United States stands at 73 percent of the level deemed necessary by Harvard researchers to mitigate the spread of the virus. Testing activity is below the recommended level in 33 states overall, according to a New York Times analysis. 

The U.S. has reported an average of 43,144 new COVID-19 cases daily in the past week, up 13 percent from the average seen two weeks ago, reports The New York Times.

Texas has the most COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the U.S., according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

Louisiana has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population of all U.S. states, while Vermont has the fewest, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

The daily rate of positive coronavirus tests in New York City has jumped to 3.25 percent, a "cause for real concern," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sept. 29, according to The New York Times.

After pausing elective and nonurgent surgery early during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals are increasing the number of these procedures and seeing an uptick in patients seeking bariatric surgeries, which can help with weight loss, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Minnesota state health officials said a coronavirus survey was halted after public health workers were harassed by residents who shouted "racial and ethnic slurs," the New York Times reports.

Police departments across the country reported brief outages of emergency 911 dispatch services Sept. 28, reports CNN.

The global COVID-19 death toll surpassed 1 million Sept. 28, with U.S. virus deaths accounting for more than 20 percent of the total. 

About 32 percent of parents said that it is unlikely their children will get the influenza vaccine this year, a new poll shows.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration Sept. 27 after a brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, was found in the water supply in the city of Lake Jackson.

National COVID-19 cases surpassed 7 million this weekend, while the global death toll nears 1 million, reports The Washington Post.

The percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 continues to decrease nationwide, though three regions reported an increase in the week ending Sept. 19, according to the CDC's weekly COVIDView report. 

Here are the rates of positive COVID-19 tests in each state, along with the number of new cases most recently reported and number of tests conducted per 1,000 people. 

As of Sept. 28, more than 204,000 people in the U.S. have died after contracting COVID-19, according to The New York Times.

In 2019, women in the U.S. were more likely to report mild, moderate or severe anxiety than men, according to a CDC analysis.