Rural coronavirus infections fell 30% last week; deaths up

New coronavirus infection rates, Feb. 7-13
Daily Yonder map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

"The number of new Covid-19 infections in rural counties fell by nearly 30 percent last week to the lowest level since October. But Covid-related deaths in rural America grew slightly, showing the lingering impact of the winter surge that peaked more than a month ago," Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder.

Rural counties saw 81,952 new coronavirus infections during the week of Feb. 7-13, a nearly 30 percent drop compared from 115,359 cases the week before. "Meanwhile, the number of Covid-related deaths in rural counties plateaued for the past month. Last week’s rural death count was 3,599, up by 17 deaths from two weeks ago. The rural death toll has lingered between 3,500 and 3,600 since mid-January," Murphy and Marema report.

The new infection rate fell in metropolitan counties too, but deaths rose about 10%. Click here for more data and analysis from the Yonder, including charts, regional data and analysis, and an interactive map with the latest county-level data.