The COVID-19 virus continues to sweep around Virginia, with infection rates declining in some places and rising in others. Each week, The Daily Yonder, a website that covers rural issues, puts together a map of virus rates across the country based on federal data. For the week that ended January 15, there were 15 localities in Virginia where the infection rates topped 2,000 per 100,000 population. For the week ending January 22, there were only three. For the week ending January 15, there were eight localities with rates under 700 per 100,000. For the week ending January 22, there were still eight, and in seven of them the rates were down. However, in many of the localities in between, rates have been rising. The Daily Yonder’s analysis is that nationwide, rates in urban areas are generally falling while rates in rural areas are generally rising.
In Virginia, Lexington now has the highest virus rates in the state. These are three localities with infection rates greater than 2,000 per 100,000 population.
- Lexingon 3,357.5 up from 2,592.0
- Greensville County 2,637.6, down from 3,987.3
- Galax 2,158.5, down from 2,505.1
Williamsburg continues to have the lowest rate in the state. Here are the localities with rates under 700 per 100,000. Oddly, while Lexington has the state’s highest rate, surrounding Rockbridge County has one of the state’s lowest rates. Likewise, while Greensville County has the state’s second highest rates, the city of Emporia (surrounded by Greensville) has one of the state’s lowest rates.
- Williamsburg 401.2, up from 308.0
- Fairfax (city) 412.2, down from 749.0
- Covington 451.4, down from 469.0
- Rappahannock County 488.5, down from 570.0
- Rockbridge County 536.0, down from 687.0
- Cumberland County 654.5, down from 685.0
- Highland County 639.3, down from 776.0
- Emporia 692.1, down from 935.0.
You can look up the data for every locality in the country on The Daily Yonder’s interactive map here.