Rural coronavirus cases are on the rise even as Kansas and Missouri declare it 'endemic' and reduce data reporting

New coronavirus infections, in ranges by county, April 11-17
Map by The Daily Yonder; click on the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

Rural counties reported nearly 18,2000 new coronavirus cases during the week of April 11-17, a 9 percent increase from the week before. The uptick, concentrated in New England, marks the end of an 11-week downward trend in new rural cases, Tim Marema reports for The Daily Yonder. New metro cases fell by about 2%. However, data on cases and deaths is skewed — and will likely stay skewed — because some states have stopped regularly reporting data.

Rural deaths related to Covid-19 fell by about 12% from the week before, while Covid deaths in metropolitan areas fell by about 5% in the same time period. The weekly death rate was about 40% higher than the metro rate, and has been higher than the metro rate for almost a year, Marema reports.

"The cumulative death toll from the pandemic is also higher in rural counties than metropolitan ones. Since the start of the pandemic, 172,000 rural Americans have died from Covid-19, which equates to about one death for every 267 rural residents," Marema reports. "Metropolitan counties have recorded 771,290 Covid-related deaths, which equates to about one death for every 366 metropolitan residents."

There are likely more cases and deaths than the map reflects, since Kansas reported no data for last week. Because of falling case numbers, state governments in Kansas and Missouri announced at the end of March that the coronavirus is now considered "endemic," Natalie Wallington reports for The Kansas City Star. Those states will now treat the virus much like the seasonal flu, and will no longer have access to some emergency measures that gave priority and funding to fighting the disease. They will also only update case and death totals once a week, and Missouri will no longer report death totals by county. However, regardless of official declarations, the coronavirus can still mutate and cause future surges in cases and deaths, Wallington notes. Cases in the Kansas City area and across the state began creeping up again last week, according to local station WDAF-TV, but the lack of official data and the increasing prevalence of at-home testing make it difficult to assess the true numbers.