2020 election: Coronavirus cases rise across battleground states where outcome could be decided

Rising infections in thirteen states could see voters turn-away from Republican president

The outcome of next week’s presidential race will likely be decided by competitive states where Covid-19 has been on the rise, according to analysis.

Some 13 states where election outcomes are too close to call next week, have seen new daily cases double, despite Donald Trump’s argument to have “ended” the pandemic.

And that, according to a Reuters tally on Thursday, comes as the United States reported over 91,000 new cases nationally - breaking the previous single-day record.

Speaking on Wednesday in Arizona, where new cases have risen 42.3 per cent over the past two weeks, Mr Trump told crowds that “We’re rounding the turn, regardless,”

But in Arizona and twelve other states, analysis by The Washington Post has shown that new daily coronavirus cases have risen on average by 45 per cent, in what could prove problematic to the president’s reelection bid.  

Taking data from 13 states deemed competitive by the Cook Political Report in next week’s election, the weekly average for new daily cases increased from around 21,000 to 30,000 new daily cases between 14 and 28 October.

Minnesota and Wisconsin, where Mr Trump trailed his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, by 17 points in a recent opinion poll, also reported steep increases in infections.

The surge in cases could complicate the president's chances in the upper Midwest, whose support against Hillary Clinton four years ago propelled him to the White House.

Meanwhile, in a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted last week, Mr Trump’s negative approval rating stood at 58 per cent, in another sign that voters did not support his administration’s response to the coronavirus. 

On Thursday, 12 states set one-day records for new cases, according to Reuters analysis. They were: Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Oregon.

More than 229,000 people have now died from Covid-19 in the United States, the world's highest death toll.