New rural infections were 1/3 higher than urban last week

New coronavirus infections, in ranges by county, Aug. 22-28
Daily Yonder map; click the map to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

The new infection rate in rural counties was one-third higher than in urban counties last week, Tim Murphy and Tim Marema report for The Daily Yonder. The last time the rural rate was that much higher was in August 2020 (and remained that way for nearly the rest of the year). 

Rural counties saw 189,183 new infections over the week of Aug. 22-28, a 17 percent increase from the week before and the highest number since early January, the Yonder reports. Also last week: the 1,779 rural Americans who died from Covid-19 last week (an 18% increase over the week before) pushed the rural death toll over 100,000.

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