Virus rates for the week ending Oct. 30. Highest rates are black and gray; lowest are green. Courtesy of The Daily Yonder.

COVID-19 infection rates continue to decline across the county last week, but the picture in Virginia is very mixed, according to an analysis of federal data by The Daily Yonder, a website that covers rural issues. Virus rates continue to rise in much of Southwest Virginia but are dropping in much of Southside. Of the 10 localities with the highest infection rates, all 10 are west of the Blue Ridge. However, for the first some localities in Southwest and Southside now rank among the lowest in the state — Montgomery County in Southwest plus Brunswick County, Cumberland County, Hopewell, Southampton County and Sussex County in Southside. Virginia also saw one locality that recorded no infections last week — Manassas Park.

Here are the infection rates for the week ending Oct. 30, measured on a rate per 100,000 population basis. The 10 highest localities in Virginia:

  1. Buena Vista 602.0, up from 324.2
  2. Wise County 420.0, up from 398.6
  3. Dickenson County 398.1, up from 265.4
  4. Smyth County 375.4, up from 332.2
  5. Galax 362.4, up from 204.8
  6. Bath County 361.7, down from 554.6
  7. Norton 326.6, down from 401.9
  8. Buchanan County 295.2, up from 276.1
  9. Russell County 285.9, up from 252.0
  10. Wythe County 285.9, up from 247.5
  11. Fluvanna County 282.2, up from 201.7
  12. Botetourt County 266.3, down from 287.3
  13. Giles County 257.2, down from 317.0
  14. Warren County 256.5, up from 214.1
  15. Patrick County 249.9, up from 187.4
  16. Scott County 245.8, down from 496.2

Here are the localities with the lowest infection rates for the week ending Oct. 30:

  1. Manassas Park 0, down from 11.4
  2. Falls Church 13.7, down from 20.5
  3. Fairfax (city) 16.7, down from 25.0
  4. Richmond County 22.2, down from 155.2
  5. Rappahannock County 40.7, down from 203.5
  6. Fairfax County 56.6, down from 81.2
  7. Northampton County 59.6, down from 110.0
  8. Charlottesville 61.4, down from 126.9
  9. Sussex County 62.7, down from 107.5
  10. Manassas 65.7, down from 80.3
  11. Hopewell 71.0, down from 190.9
  12. Arlington County 73.9, down from 77.7
  13. Loudoun County 74.0, down from 80.8
  14. Madison County 75.4, down from 150.8
  15. Middlesex County 75.6, up from 66.2
  16. Hampton 80.3, down from 104.1
  17. Alexandria 80.9, unchanged
  18. Poquoson 81.5, down from 114.1
  19. Lancaster County 84.9, up from 66.0
  20. Southampton County 85.1, down from 124.8
  21. Virginia Beach 85.1, down from 87.6
  22. Cumberland County 90.6, down from 100.7
  23. Greene County 90.8, down from 166.5
  24. Gloucester County 91.0, down from 120.5
  25. Chesapeake 91.9, down from 105.8
  26. Brunswick County 92.4, down from 141.7
  27. Norfolk 92.7, down from 97.6
  28. Prince William County 94.4, down from 122.5
  29. Newport News 99.3, down from 110.5
  30. Montgomery County 99.5, down from 107.6
  31. York County 99.6, down from 134.7

You can find the Daily Yonder’s interactive map here. You can get more up-to-date data on your locality, and vaccination rates, on the Virginia Department of Health covid dashboard. Generally speaking, the highest infection rates are where the vaccination rates are lowest, and the lowest infection rates are where vaccination rates are highest.