Virginia remains two different states when it comes to covid infections, but that dividing line is not urban and rural. Eight of the 12 localities with the lowest infection rates are in Southside, while 10 of the 12 localities with the highest rates are west of the Blue Ridge and those two others — Patrick County and Martinsville — are just on the eastern side of the mountains. Two of those 10 high-infection counties, Page and Warren, are in the Shenandoah Valley. If you drop those out and look just at Southwest Virginia, then eight of the 12 highest localities are in Southwest Virginia.
Lynchburg continues to have one of the lowest infection rates among major cities in Virginia. Only Alexandria and Norfolk are lower. Generally speaking, the localities with the lowest vaccination rates have the highest infection rates and vice versa.
This data comes from The Daily Yonder, a website that covers rural issues. Each week it compiles federal data and puts together an interactive map for each county in the country. The data covers the week ending Nov. 27.
These are the localities with the highest infection rates, as measured on a cases per 100,000 population basis:
- Craig County 779.6, up from 740.6
- Dickenson County 621.6, down from 649.5
- Norton 427.0, up from 376.8
- Buchanan County 390.4, unchanged
- Galax 378.1, up from 31.5
- Martinsville 326.6, up from 318.6
- Carroll County 305.5, up from 275.3
- Page County 297.0, up from 163.2
- Warren County 291.3, up from 229.1
- Wise County 286.2, down from 361.1
- Russell County 267.1, down from 398.7
- Patrick County 244.2, down from 369.2
- Shenandoah County 243.0, down from 266.0
- Roanoke County 220.8, up from 143.3
- Orange County 213.2, down from 234.8.
These are the localities with the lowest infection rates, also measured on a cases per 100,000 basis:
- Manassas Park 0.0, unchanged
- Sussex County 17.9, down from 35.8
- Buckingham County 29.2, down from 128.3
- Nottoway County 32.8, down from 118.2
- Emporia 37.4, down from 74.8
- Prince Edward County 39.5, down from 57.0
- Highland County 45.7, unchanged
- Northumberland County 49.6, unchanged
- Winchester 49.9, down from 57.0
- Cumberland County 50.3, down from 80.5
- Brunswick County 55.4, up from 43.1
- Southampton County 62.4, 79.4
- Poquoson 65.2, up from 32.6
- Alexandria 66.5, down from 77.2
- Norfolk 67.1, up from 58.9
- Isle of Wight County 67.4, down from 105.1
- York County 73.7, down from 77.6
- Lunenburg County 73.8, down from 385.4
- (tie) Lynchburg 75.5, up from 59.6; Lancaster County 75.5, up from 18.9
You can find more updated data, and vaccination rates for each locality, on the Virginia Department of Health’s covid dashboard.