Rural counties at both extremes of infection rates in May

New covid-19 cases in May (Daily Yonder map; click on the image to enlarge it; click here for the interactive version.)

Non-metropolitan counties had some of the highest and lowest covid-19 infection rates in the nation in May, according to a new Daily Yonder analysis of USA Facts data.

"On one hand, 352 rural counties reported no cases of covid-19 infections in May. That number includes 171 rural counties that have never had a case of covid-19, plus another 181 counties that reported no new cases in May but had cases previously," Tim Marema and Bill Bishop report for The Daily Yonder. "Another 500 rural counties reported five or fewer new cases of covid-19 in May."

Read more here for a regional analysis and an interactive map with county-level data.