By Maeve O’Brien

The US recorded 481,372 new Covid-19 cases last week, a record high since the start of the pandemic. New weekly Covid-19 cases are dropping in one state only, and some parts of the country are nearing what former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb called “exponential growth.”

US now has daily average of 71,000 cases, all time high for the pandemic. And trends are pointing higher. Nearly 1 in 6 new daily diagnosed cases in the world is in the US, even though we have only 1/24th of the global population. https://t.co/OD024mqAxz 1/x
— Tom Inglesby (@T_Inglesby) October 28, 2020

This rise in cases comes as in-person voters head to the polls for the November 3 general election, in which millions of Americans will need to have safe access to polling stations to cast their votes. To protect voters’ right to health during the Covid-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch has advocated for and election officials across the country have put in place secure drop boxes, mail-in and early voting options, increased numbers of polling places, social distancing guidelines, and special assistance to voters who may be quarantined, ill, or at particular risk of illness.

Overall, the US has witnessed over 225,000 coronavirus deaths and 8.7 million cases, the burden of which has fallen on marginalized populations. The impact of the virus is compounded by structural racism, making Black and Latinx people three times more likely than white people to become infected, and twice as likely to die from the virus, according to data published by The New York Times in July. Immigrants are especially vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus, as many of them are essential workers, live in crowded low-income housing, and are too afraid of the authorities to seek medical care. Incarcerated people have been hit hard by the pandemic due to unsanitary conditions and the resistance by most authorities to release sufficient detainees to allow for social distancing in detention facilities.

Meanwhile, it has been seven months since US Congress passed major coronavirus relief legislation; many of its benefits expired in July. The Senate just adjourned for recess until after the election, likely delaying the passage of any new aid for several more days. Human Rights Watch has previously called on the US Congress to provide additional Covid-19 aid to those most in need. This includes payments to low-wage and unemployed workers, protecting people from unfair evictions, providing affordable and accessible Covid-19 treatment, ensuring that relief legislation includes immigrants and their families, and establishing oversight to ensure funds to business are being used to protect workers.