Rural America reported 18% fewer deaths last week compared to two weeks ago, but the rural rates are still significantly higher than urban rates.
Deaths
Rural American reported 643 Covid-19 related deaths last week, down 150 deaths from two weeks ago. The rural death rate was 1.4 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to 1.72 the previous week.
In urban counties, the death rate was .81 deaths per 100,000 residents. Deaths in urban counties totaled 2,275, a 10% drop from two weeks ago.
Infections
Rural counties reported 40,531 new infections last week, a 14% drop from the previous week. Meanwhile, urban America saw a 13% drop from two weeks ago, reporting 246,740 new infections.
The rural infection rate was 87.99 infections per 100,000 residents, less than a percentage point different than the urban infection rate of 87.44 infections per 100,000 residents. The last time urban and rural infection rates were this close was eight weeks ago, when the rural rate was approximately 1% lower than the urban rate.
The rate of new infections is probably higher because the CDC does not track the number of infections detected through home testing.
The gap between urban and rural cumulative death rates continued to widen. Cumulatively, the rural death rate was 400.79 deaths per 100,000 residents last week, while the urban cumulative rate was 292.41 deaths.
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