New rural coronavirus infections at lowest level since June; deaths fell 40% last week but still higher than metro rate

New coronavirus infections, in ranges by county, April 4-10
Map by The Daily Yonder; click on the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

The pace of new coronavirus infections "fell for the 11th consecutive week last week, reaching its lowest level since June 2021, according to a Daily Yonder analysis. New cases dropped to 16,700, a decline of 8 percent compared to two weeks ago. Rural infections are down 97% from their peak in mid-January," Yonder Editor Tim Marema reports. "Meanwhile, metropolitan counties saw an increase of 25% in new cases last week, rising to about 219,000 for the week compared to 175,000 two weeks ago. But even with the uptick, metropolitan infections are 95% lower than they were during the height of the Omicron surge."

Deaths related to Covid-19 fell by about 40% last week in both rural and metro counties and hit their lowest numbers since August. "The rural death rate was higher than the metropolitan death rate last week – a trend that goes back nearly a year," Marema reports. "The weekly death rate was 53% higher in rural counties than urban ones."

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