In terms of percentage, Vermont showed the largest increase among states for new confirmed COVID-19 cases this past week. The state recorded 497 new positive tests over the previous week, a hike of 153 percent.
Louisiana was next with an increase of 119 percent, equaling out to 11,532 new cases.
In third was New Hampshire, which showed an increase of 71 percent with 2,183 new cases.
New Jersey was fourth with 24,680 new cases, a jump of 65 percent.
Another 29 states had an increase higher than 30 percent.
In terms of sheer numbers, Illinois remains on top with 85,707 new cases reported last week, a jump of 32 percent.
Texas is second with 71,528 new positive tests, an increase of 25 percent from the previous week. Last week, Texas became the first state to top 1 million COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began.
California has moved up to third with 54,997 new cases, also a hike of 37 percent. The spike prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to reimpose COVID-19 restrictions in 40 counties.
Wisconsin is fourth with 48,014 new cases, a jump of 18 percent and Ohio follows with 47,828 new cases, an increase of 53 percent.
Michigan is sixth with 46,789 new cases, an increase of 48 percent. The surge in Michigan led the governor to declare that the situation has reached unprecedented levels.
“We are in the worst moment of this pandemic to date,” Governor Gretchen Whitmer told a news conference on Sunday. “The situation has never been more dire. We are at the precipice, and we need to take some action.”
There have been concerns that campaign rallies held by President Donald Trump before the November 3 election were fueling spikes of COVID-19 cases.
A study from Stanford University reported that 18 Trump rallies between June 20 and September 22 may have led to 30,000 COVID-19 cases and 700 deaths. The researchers noted that the cases weren’t limited to people who attended the rallies.
An analysis by CNN of 17 Trump rallies in 13 states reported that 14 of the host counties showed increased cases of COVID-19 a month after the campaign gatherings.
CNN reported that 10 of the counties saw new cases increase at a higher rate than the rest of their state.
Eight of the 14 counties had declining case rates before the rallies.
It was also reported last week that more than 130 Secret Service agents assigned to the president’s travel detail have either tested positive for COVID-19 or are in quarantine.