New rural coronavirus infections up 11% from week before

New coronavirus infections, in ranges by county, June 27-July 3
Daily Yonder map; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

"New Covid-19 infections inched up for the second week in a row in rural counties last week, while deaths related to the coronavirus continued a five-week decline," Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. That's similar to the trend in metropolitan counties.

Rural counties saw 15,471 new infections during the week of June 27 to July 3, an 11 percent increase from 13,983 two weeks ago. "A total of 324 Covid-related deaths were reported in rural counties last week, a decline of 16% from two weeks ago, when rural counties reported 387 Covid-related deaths," Murphy and Marema report. The Midwest and South saw the biggest increase in rural infections, with Arkansas and Missouri at the epicenter.

Click here for more charts, regional analysis and an interactive county-level map from the Yonder.