Rural counties hit record high for new coronavirus cases Oct. 18-24, fifth week in a row; metropolitan cases rising too

New coronavirus infections, Oct. 18-24
Daily Yonder map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

New coronavirus infections hit a record high in rural counties from Oct. 18 through 24, the fifth week in a row. "Rural counties had a record 17,818 new infections on Friday, Oct. 23. Even though metropolitan cases did not hit a record that day, rural America’s high number drove infections to a new nationwide peak of 82,887 infections in a single day," Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. "Rural counties also hit a one-week record for new infections last week at 91,961. That’s a 13% increase over the previous week and the fifth consecutive record-breaking week for rural counties."

The number of red-zone rural counties dropped slightly last week: 10 counties were removed from the list, but about 70% of rural counties, or 1,348, remain in the red zone. The White House Coronavirus Task Force defines red zones as areas with at least one new infection per 1,000 people.