New rural coronavirus infections at lowest level since July

Rates of new coronavirus infections, March 7-13
Daily Yonder map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version

Rural counties reported 39,120 new coronavirus infections from March 7-13, the fewest since last July. The number was down 12 percent from two weeks ago and has dropped nine weeks in a row.

"Since their peak during the second full week of January, new weekly cases have dropped by 83%. The number of weekly deaths has fallen by two-thirds during the same period," Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. "The number of Covid-related deaths also fell for the ninth week in a row. Rural deaths declined by 15%, falling to 1,398."

Meanwhile, 30 states reduced the number of rural counties in the red zone last week, with Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma showing the largest declines. Red zones are those averaging 100 or more new infections per 100,000 residents in one week. "The number of rural red-zone counties fell to 525, a decline of 154 counties," Murphy and Marema report. "Only a quarter of the nation’s 1,976 rural counties were in the red zone last week, compared to 95% of rural counties at the peak of the winter surge in mid-January." Click here for more data, graphics and in-depth analysis from the Yonder, including an interactive map with county-level data.