Election 2020: Dueling realities about COVID-19 at Biden, Trump rallies

As the country enters what many scientists are calling a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the presidential candidates make their final pitches to voters in battleground states, here’s today’s update of the COVID-19 situation in 13 states ABC News rates as competitive for the presidential election (either toss-ups, leaning Democrat or leaning Republican).

Eight battleground states -- Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin -- are experiencing a rise in all three metrics: cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Rate of positivity

• Increased in 12 states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
• Decreased in one state: New Hampshire 

Current hospitalizations

• Increased in ten states: Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
• Flat in three states: Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada

Daily deaths

• Increasing in eight states: Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin 
• Decreasing in four states: Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada
• Flat in one state: Georgia

-ABC News' Soorin Kim, Arielle Mitropoulos, Ben Bell and Brian Hartman

Trump's rally in Tampa on Thursday may cause traffic delays which could lead to longer wait times for potential early voters, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office warned in a statement. 

The president's rally is set to be held in a parking lot at Raymond James Stadium, which is also being used as an early voting site in Hillsborough County.

The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections office said the event "could cause traffic delays" on Thursday for those looking to vote and the office reminded voters that there are 26 early voting sites available around the county. 

The elections office also pointed out that while "electioneering" is not allowed within 150 feet of an early voting site, they say the "rally and campaigners will be outside of this zone" and that the Supervisor of Elections Office "cannot prohibit campaign activities outside this '"no solicitation zone.'"

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News. 

-ABC News' Will Steakin

For the first time in the 2020 race both presidential candidates will actively campaign in the same state on the same day to court the all-important senior and Latino votes in the swing state of Florida. Latinos, in particular, are expected to make up the largest minority group in the 2020 electorate.

While Florida isn’t a must-win state for Biden, Trump generating strong numbers among Latino voters in Florida strengthens his path to the state’s 29 electoral votes, which he won in 2016 by just 1 percentage point.

And a new NBC News/Marist poll in Florida out today shows Biden trailing Trump by six-points in support from the Latino community, though he still maintains a slight edge nationally.

Because of GOP ground efforts, Republicans have out-registered Democrats in the state -- and the Trump campaign is hoping his firm anti-lockdown stance might appeal to some working class Latinos and turn out more support for the president. Stumping to Latino voters in Arizona Wednesday, Trump talked about the "American Dream Plan," a new plan targeted toward Latino and Hispanic communities nationwide that he’s expected to tout again today. 

But the Biden campaign is pushing back on that notion that Trump is ahead with Latinos in Florida, arguing in a call with reporters this morning that internal numbers show Biden on par with the support former President Barack Obama had in 2012 and claiming that samples of Latinos in external polling aren’t representative of the actual Latino community.

When asked by ABC’s Senior White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega what specifics it is taking issue with in the Marist/NBC poll, the campaign argued the polling only sampled a small portion of the community and weighted the results.

“I think pollsters often times... see our community as a monolith. And I think campaigns, up until ours have done the same," said Julie Chavez-Rodriguez, Biden’s Deputy campaign manager. 

While the NBC poll shows Trump ahead with Latinos and Biden up with seniors, an ABC News poll of Florida voters just one month ago found the exact opposite -- with Biden up 13 points with Latinos and Trump up eight points with senior voters.

With both Trump and Biden hitting the trail in Tampa this afternoon, Democrats -- hoping to divert attention from Trump's rival rally -- are circling the president's venue with counterprogramming highlighting what they view as his failed response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

In new billboards that are set to be unveiled at the Raymond James Stadium, the Democratic National Committee blames the president for his handling of the virus, which it contends has led to more than 16,500 deaths in Florida alone and more than a million lost jobs in the state.

"COVID cases are spiking. This administration failed us," a mobile billboard deployed by the Democratic National Committee reads. The DNC also set up a digital billboard two miles south of the stadium to target a wider swath of potential Democratic voters.

"We’re delivering a message to voters in Tampa they won’t be able to miss: Trump’s failed, incompetent coronavirus response has cost too many Floridians their lives and livelihoods," said DNC Chair Tom Perez. "Floridians of every political persuasion will hold him accountable for this record of failure and his years of broken promises by following through on their plan to vote and making him a one-term president."

It's not just Trump the DNC is trolling, billboards are also set for Reno to greet Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday.

-ABC News' Kendall Karson