Daily Yonder
By Bill Bishop, Tim Marema and Jan Pytalski
The novel coronavirus continues to spread across rural America, according to data USA Facts has compiled from state health authorities. Yesterday, April 1, an additional 58 rural counties reported their first Covid-19 cases.
The impact of the novel coronavirus varies across the rural landscape. On average, there were 14.1 cases of COVID-19 for every 100,000 rural residents. That rate is well below the national rate of 55.9 cases per 100,000 residents.
But most of us don’t live in an “average” county. There are 80 rural counties with infection rates above the national average (shown in red in the map). And some rural counties have COVID-19 infection rates among the highest in the country.
Some of the highest rates are in Rocky Mountain ski counties. (The Yonder reported this phenomenon last week.) Blaine County, Idaho, has a COVID-19 infection rate of 1,164 per 100,000. For comparison, the Bronx in New York City reported a rate of 598.6, the highest tally of any central city area.