Reid Wilson reports in The Hill that new coronavirus hotspots are emerging in rural and non-metropolitan counties across the country, including many states that are taking steps to slowly reopen their economies after weeks of stay-at-home orders.
(Our note: “Getting back to work” sounds good, but at what cost?)
A new analysis by Brookings Institution demographer William Frey shows two-thirds of Americans live in counties with a high prevalence of coronavirus spread, where more than 100 cases have been diagnosed per every 100,000 residents.
The analysis illustrates the spread of the virus from early epicenters in New York, Seattle, New Orleans and Albany, Ga., into neighboring and more sparsely populated areas, both inside state boundaries and across state lines.
“There is no doubt that Covid-19 has made its impact felt in ‘red states,’ especially over the past three weeks,” Frey wrote. The fastest spreads through Midwestern and Southern states have come in largely smaller counties, he told The Hill in an email.
More than 40 percent of the population in 39 states live in counties with high prevalence of the coronavirus, such as Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota, where the virus has only begun to take a serious toll. More than 45 percent of the new high prevalence counties are in Western states, and 38 percent are in the South.