New rural Covid-19 infections fell slightly as deaths surged

New cases of the coronavirus, in ranges by county, Jan. 23-29
Map by The Daily Yonder; click the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

New coronavirus cases in rural counties fell slightly Jan. 23-29 after several weeks of record highs, indicating the surge has peaked. But deaths, a trailing indicator, jumped 20 percent in rural America last week and are 17% higher than the metropolitan rate, Tim Marema reports for The Daily Yonder.

In raw figures, rural counties reported 640,000 new infections last week, down about 14,000, or 2%, from the previous week. Meanwhile, rural counties reported 2,567 Covid-19-related deaths, up 431 from the previous week and bringing the total number of rural Covid deaths to 150,400. New infections in metropolitan counties fell 16% over the past week, while Covid-related deaths increased 12%.

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