Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Five of the six states with the nation’s lowest unemployment rates are in the Midwest, have Republican governors and have almost no restrictions intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Those governors have said their lack of mask mandates or other restrictions are a big reason why their states are riding out the pandemic relatively well, but economists say it’s not so simple. Economists say a lack of mandates might help, but of even greater importance is the fact that Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Missouri have economies that rely heavily on industries that weren’t hit as hard by the pandemic.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A surge in coronavirus cases across the country, including in key presidential battleground states, is creating mounting health and logistical concerns for voters, poll workers and political parties ahead of Election Day. In Iowa, county officials said they were preparing for scores of confirmed or potentially infected people to vote curbside. It’s an option typically used by disabled people that must be available outside every polling place. In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers sought to assure voters in the critical swing state that going to the polls would not be risky, even as officials announced more than 5,000 new coronavirus cases.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump and other Republicans will head into Election Day likely trailing by tens of thousands of votes in Iowa but they hope to overcome that deficit with a strong turnout of their supporters at polling places. More than 62% of active registered Democrats in Iowa and 43% of Republicans have already returned absentee ballots as part of a record-setting early vote in the state. That means 123,000 more Democrats had voted than Republicans as of Saturday. But it also means the remaining electorate Tuesday will be smaller than unusual, tilt toward the GOP and feature a plurality of voters who do not belong to either party.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa reported nearly 3,000 new virus cases Sunday, and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continued to soar. The state reported 2,887 additional cases of the virus Sunday to give the state 130,244 cases total since the pandemic began, according to Iowa’s online virus tracker. One additional death was also reported to give Iowa 1,716 deaths. Iowa officials said 676 people were hospitalized with the virus on Sunday, up from the previous day’s record of 630. The state said that over the past 14 days, Iowa was averaging a 14.1% positivity rate for the virus, but 43 of Iowa’s 99 counties had rates above 15% on Sunday.