COVID Cases Are Rising Fastest in These Three States
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. continue to soar, with total confirmed infections approaching nearly 10.6 million, as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The average daily case count was reported to have increased over the past two weeks in all states, except for Georgia and Montana, as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins.
Here we look at three states that have seen the largest rise in new cases per capita (100,000 people) over the last week, according to data compiled by The New York Times and National Geographic. All population data below from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 2019.
Wyoming
Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 2,168
- New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 5,070
- New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 2,902
- Total confirmed cases: 20,479
- Total population: 578,759
The seven-day moving average of daily new cases in Wyoming has been rising sharply since early September, after remaining flat for most of the outbreak since March. The figure hit a peak on Thursday at 792, the highest it's been since the outbreak began, according to data compiled by JHU.
Wyoming reported the fifth-highest number of cases per capita in the past seven days, according to the latest report Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Iowa
Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 11,046
- New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 30,609
- New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 19,563
- Total confirmed cases: 173,401
- Total population: 3,155,070
The seven-day moving average of daily new cases in Iowa has been increasing on a sharp incline since late October, after flattening out for most of the outbreak since March. The average count reached a record level of 4,656 on Thursday, the highest it's been since the outbreak began, according to JHU.
Iowa was reported to have the third-highest number of infections per capita over the past week as well as since January 21, as of Thursday, according to the CDC.
Minnesota
Week-to-week increase in new cases per capita: 14,377
- New cases per capita in week one (most recent week): 36,932
- New cases per capita in week two (previous week): 22,555
- Total confirmed cases: 201,851
- Total population: 5,639,632
The seven-day moving average of daily new cases in Minnesota has been climbing sharply since late October, peaking at 5,368 on November 11, after remaining flat for months from March, according to JHU.
Minnesota ranks eighth place among the states that recorded the most number of cases per capita over the past week, according to the CDC.

The wider picture
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 53 million people since it was first reported in Wuhan, China.
Globally, more than 1.2 million have died while more than 34.2 million have recovered as of Friday, according to JHU.
The graphic below, provided by Statista, the spread of COVID-19 cases across the world.
