The headline: The first three high-impact COVID-19 months—March, April, and May—were dominated by Blue states. However, June and July have been dominated by the Red wave.
The chart:
- Each line in the chart is one of the 50 US states and the District of Columbia.
- The series represent the average weekly COVID-19 case rate for each day from March 3rd to July 23rd. For example, the data for July 23rd represents the average weekly case rate between July 17th and July 23rd.
- Each line is colored by the 2016 presidential election result. Red lines are states that voted for Trump, where dark red represents a higher Trump vote and light red represents a lower vote. Whereas blue lines are states that voted for Clinton, with higher-Clinton votes being dark blue, and lower votes being lighter blue.
Key highlights:
- March, April, and May were dominated by Blue states including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. For example, in late April, the nine states with the highest COVID case rates were all Blue states.
- Notable exceptions include peaks from Louisiana (related to New Orleans and Mardi Gras) and South Dakota and Nebraska (likely meatpacking plants). Other Red states with early peaks include Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Indiana.
- June was the emergence of the Red states, and July has been domination! For example, as of July 23rd, 19 of the 21 states with the worst rates are Red. Nevada and California are the two Blue states in the list (New Mexico is 22nd).
- Rates in Florida and Arizona are both potentially on the decline, though they recorded the worst two rates to date (followed by New York).
- Louisiana currently has the second-worst rate in the nation and is the only state to see peaks in both the first three peak months as well as June/July.
The data: COVID-19 data were collected from USAFacts (https://usafacts.org/visualizations/coronavirus-covid-19-spread-map/).Election data were collected and compiled by Charted Territory.
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