Average Daily COVID Cases Are Highest in These 4 States

By Soo Kim On 12/7/20 at 7:45 AM EST

News Coronavirus Rhode Island Minnesota South Dakota

The seven-day average of coronavirus cases in the U.S. surpassed 200,000 on Sunday. The average count has been rising sharply since early October, according to data compiled by Worldometer.

Here we look at four states that reported the highest average daily cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days, according to the latest report Sunday from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Case data below is from Johns Hopkins University and the CDC, while the population data is from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Rhode Island

Average daily cases per 100,000 in last 7 days: 110.6
Total confirmed cases: 62,137
Total population: 1,059,361

The seven-day average of cases in Rhode Island has been rising sharply since early October, peaking last week on December 3 at 1,364, the state's highest level recorded since the outbreak began. The figure declined from late April and flattened out from early June, according to data compiled by JHU.

Minnesota

Average daily cases per 100,000 in last 7 days: 105
Total confirmed cases: 350,862
Total population: 5,639,632

The average case count in Minnesota statistically declined in a recent two-week period from November 22 to December 5. However, the figure has been rising sharply since mid-September, peaking on November 17 at 7,052, the state's highest average tally since the outbreak began, according to JHU.

South Dakota

Average daily cases per 100,000 in last 7 days: 100.5
Total confirmed cases: 85,991
Total population: 884,659

The seven-day average of cases in South Dakota statistically increased in the latest 14-day period. However, the figure has declined from November 11 when it reached 1,458, the state's highest level since the outbreak began. It remained flat from early April before rising sharply from late August to early November, according to JHU.

Wyoming

Average daily cases per 100,000 in last 7 days: 99.2
Total confirmed cases: 36,218
Total population: 578,759

The average daily case tally in Wyoming statistically decreased in the latest two-week period. However, the figure has been rising sharply since early September, after flattening out for months since late March. The figure peaked on November 20 when it hit 891, the state's highest average count since the outbreak began, according to JHU.

Daily cases to surpass over a million by early January

Daily infections in the country are projected to reach around 573,132 on Monday, around 832,688 by Christmas and over a million by January 10 if "vaccine distribution is scaled up over 90 days" and "governments do not re-impose mandates if cases increase," according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

Minnesota COVID-19 lockdown protest December 2020 — People protesting coronavirus lockdown measures in St Paul, Minnesota on December 5. Minnesota is among the four states that reported the highest average daily cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The wider picture

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 67.1 million people, including over 14.7 million in the U.S., since it was first reported in Wuhan, China.

More than 1.5 million people have died worldwide and over 43.1 million have recovered as of Monday, according to JHU.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, shows the distribution of COVID-19 deaths among the U.S. population.