Rural Covid-19 infection rate keeps climbing above metro rate; now 27% higher; deaths up 10% after 2-week decline

Newly reported coronavirus infections, in ranges by county, Aug. 23-30
Map by The Daily Yonder; click on the image to enlarge it or click here for the interactive version.

The number of new coronavirus cases in rural counties rose "for the first time in three weeks last week. Meanwhile, new infections fell in metropolitan counties, increasing the gap between rural and metro infection rates for the third consecutive week," Sarah Melotte reports for The Daily Yonder. "The number of Covid-related deaths increased in both rural and metropolitan counties last week."

Non-metro counties reported more than 105,000 new infections during the week of Aug. 23-30 — a 3.7% increase from the week before. Metro counties reported about 500,000 new cases last week, 5.6% less than the previous week. "The rural infection rate was 27% higher than the metropolitan rate last week, compared to 16% higher two weeks ago and 7% three weeks ago," Melotte reports.

Meanwhile, "After decreasing for three weeks, rural deaths increased by nearly 10%. Rural counties reported 614 Covid-related deaths, increasing the death rate to 1.33 deaths per 100,000 residents," Melotte reports. "Metropolitan counties also saw an increase in death rates. The death rate in urban America increased 7.8% to .98 deaths per 100,000 residents. The weekly rural death rate is 36.6% higher than the metropolitan death rate." Click here for more charts and county-level interactive maps from the Yonder.