See latest county-level pandemic data, including the 25 rural counties with highest infection rates

Rural infection rate as of May 17. (Daily Yonder map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.)

"Coronavirus hotspots at meatpacking plants – especially in the Midwest – are a major source of Covid-19 in most of the rural counties with the worst infection rates," Tim Marema and Bill Bishop report for The Daily Yonder. "Fourteen of the 25 counties with rural America’s highest infection rates link the spread of the virus back to food-processing facilities. Prison and nursing homes were the other major sources of infections in the 25 rural hotspot counties."

Read more here for a list of the top 25 rural counties with the highest infection rates.