New rural Covid-19 infections fell 40% last week, but metro cases fell 54%; rural deaths rose 13% as metro deaths fell

New cases of the coronavirus, in ranges by county, Jan. 30-Feb. 5
Map by The Daily Yonder; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

As the Omicron surge wanes nationally, it is doing likewise in rural counties. New rural coronavirus infections fell 40 percent from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5. "That’s the biggest single-week drop in cases (both as a percentage and in raw numbers) since the start of the pandemic. But even with the decline, new infections were more numerous last week in rural counties than they were at the previous peak of the pandemic in January 2021," Tim Marema reports for The Daily Yonder. "In metropolitan counties, new cases fell at an even greater rate – declining by 54% for the week."

Deaths, a trailing indicator, "increased by 13% last week, climbing to 2,895 from 2,567 two weeks ago," Marema reports. "Covid-related deaths in metropolitan counties declined slightly. Metro counties reported 13,208 Covid-related deaths last week, down about 2% from two weeks ago."

Even with the decrease in new infections, almost all rural counties remained in the red zone, which the federal government defines as more than 1 daily case per 1,000 residents over a week, so the task force has urged such counties to take extra precautions to contain the virus, Marema reports.

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