Big cities have most covid-19 cases, but rural infection rates are slightly higher; see recent county-level data

Coronavirus infections as of April 14. (Daily Yonder map; click to enlarge it or click here to view the interactive version.)

The covid-19 infection rate was about one-fifth that of major cities as of April 14, but the infection rate is increasing more quickly in rural areas, Bill Bishop, Tim Marema, and Jan Pytalski report for The Daily Yonder.

According to data compiled from USA Facts, more than three-fourths of rural counties had a confirmed covid-19 case and one in five rural counties (about 20 percent) had reported a death from the virus by April 14, the Yonder reports.

"Nonmetropolitan (or rural) counties contain about 15% of the U.S. population but account for only 4% of the nation’s 600,000 cases of Covid-19. Just over 3% of the nation’s deaths from coronavirus infection are in rural areas," the Yonder reports. "The rate of increase in coronavirus infections was slightly higher in rural areas from April 7 to 14. Cases increased by about 65% in nonmetropolitan counties during the period, while the rate of increase in large metros was 52%. But in raw numbers, that means rural areas added about 1,000 cases, while the number of cases in major metropolitan areas jumped by 165,000."