Counties with highest COVID-19 cases voted for Trump, data shows

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Americans in counties with the highest number of new COVID-19 cases overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump in Tuesday’s election.

According to an Associated Press analysis, in 376 counties where the virus is currently most rampant, 93% of those counties went for Trump. Most were in rural areas where there is low adherence to social distancing and mask-wearing, Chicago-Tribune reports. Counties in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin are hotbeds for the latest surge in COVID cases, and Trump enjoyed massive support from voters in these areas.

“Public health officials need to step back, listen to and understand the people who aren’t taking the same stance” on mask-wearing and other control measures, said Dr. Marcus Plescia of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Read More: Fauci warns of COVID-19 surge, opposes Trump’s response

Trump also won the majority of votes in states with the highest COVID-19 deaths, including Florida and Texas. 

“The president has spent months minimizing the virus and the pain of the loved ones of the more than 230,000 Americans taken by COVID-19. It’s no surprise that the deception paid off,” said Florida resident Andrea Mulcahy, whose husband died of COVID-19 in July at age 52.

“It’s also heartbreaking that more Americans don’t understand the horror that so many of their neighbors have lived and continue to live,” she added.

Read More: Tens of thousands of COVID-19 infections linked to Trump rallies: study

There have been more than 230,000 COVID-19 related deaths in America. Trump has responded by downplaying the severity of the pandemic and encouraging the public to ignore basic safety precautions.

If elected to the White House, Joe Biden has vowed to “immediately put in place a national strategy that will position our country to finally get ahead of this virus and get back our lives,” the former vice president said at a rally in Wilmington, Delaware, last month.

“I’ll reach out to every governor in every state, red and blue, as well as mayors and local officials during the transition, to find out what support they need and how much of it they need. I’ll ask the new Congress to put a bill on my desk by the end of January, with all the resources necessary to see how both our public health and our economic response can be seen through the end,” Biden added.

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