COVID Cases Are Rising Fastest in These Five States

Life and Trends Reporter

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Daily counts of new coronavirus case in the U.S. reached a record high of 91,295 on Thursday—the largest single-day rise in new infections since the outbreak began.

Here we look at five states that have seen the biggest jump in new cases per capita (100,000 people) over the last week, according to data compiled by The New York Times. All population data below from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 2019.

Alabama

Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 4,335

New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 12,032
New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 7,697
Total confirmed cases: 189,149
Total population: 4,903,185

Daily new case counts in Alabama have been increasing sharply from early October, after flattening out from early September. The seven-day moving average declined from mid-July, when it peaked at 1,918 on July 16, after increasing since late March, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Iowa

Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 2,652

New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 10,191
New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 7,539
Total confirmed cases: 122,950
Total population: 3,155,070

The number of daily new cases in Iowa has been increasing since early August. The seven-day moving average flattened out from late May after increasing from late March, according to JHU.

South Dakota

Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 2,127

New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 6,956
New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 4,829
Total confirmed cases: 43,000
Total population: 884,659

South Dakota reported the second-highest number of new cases per capita over the last week (after North Dakota) in the country, according to the latest report Thursday by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Daily new case counts in the state have been rising sharply since mid-August, after flattening out from late March. The seven-day moving average peaked at 997 on October 26, according to JHU.

Alaska

Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 1,038

New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 2,494
New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 1,456
Total confirmed cases: 15,417
Total population: 731,545

Daily tallies of new infections in Alaska have been rising sharply since mid-September, after flattening out from early August. The seven-day moving average remained flat from mid-March to late May, before rising through late July and briefly declining through early August, according to JHU.

Wyoming

Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 627

New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 2,298
New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 1,671
Total confirmed cases: 12,507
Total population: 578,759

Among all states, Wyoming recorded the fifth-highest number of new infections per capita over the past week, according to the CDC.

The seven-day moving average number of new cases in Wyoming have been rising sharply since September, after flattening out for months since mid-March, according to JHU.

South Dakota Sturgis Motorcycle Rally August 2020 — Motorcyclists in Sturgis, South Dakota ride down Main Street during the 80th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on August 8. South Dakota is among a handful of states where COVID-19 cases have been rising fastest in... Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

The wider picture

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 45.1 million people across the globe, including over 8.9 million in the U.S, since it was first reported in Wuhan, China.

Globally, more than 1.1 million have died following infection, while more than 30.3 million have reportedly recovered as of Friday, according to JHU.

The graphic below, produced by Statista, illustrates the spread of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.