CORONAVIRUS infection rates are spiking to new highs in several metropolitan areas and smaller communities across the United States, according to undisclosed data the White House’s pandemic task force is using to track rates of infection, which was obtained by NBC News.

The data contained in a May 7 coronavirus task force report are at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump’s Monday declaration that “all throughout the country, the numbers are coming down rapidly.”

The top 10 areas saw surges of 72.4 percent or greater over a seven-day period compared to the prior week, according to a set of tables produced for the task force by its Data and Analytics unit. They include Nashville, Tennessee; Des Moines, Iowa; Amarillo, Texas; and — atop the list with a 650 percent increase — Central City, Kentucky.

The spiking infection rates suggest that the pandemic is spreading quickly outside major coastal population centers that were early hot spots, while governors of some of the states that are home to new hot spots are following Trump’s advice to relax stay-at-home restrictions.

Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska and Tennessee, for example, have no stay-at-home orders, according to a task force map.

In other states where restrictions are being put in place or repealed at the local level, some counties are experiencing surges. (SD-Agencies)