Which North Carolina counties are hardest hit by coronavirus? Here are the numbers
The coronavirus has hit almost every corner of North Carolina, from urban pockets to small communities.
For every 10,000 residents in the state, about five have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday, according to data compiled by The News & Observer.
It’s no surprise that counties with the biggest cities — those home to Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem and more — have reported the highest numbers of coronavirus cases.
But in some rural communities where clusters of the virus were slow to arrive, the number of cases per 10,000 people — the per capita rate of lab-confirmed cases — is actually higher.
That reality shatters the idea that less-densely populated areas are insulated from the pandemic. And it highlights how the virus can take a toll in areas with fewer resources.
Consider this: Northampton County has 31.3 reported coronavirus cases for every 10,000 residents.
That’s much higher than in Mecklenburg, where Charlotte has emerged as an epicenter of the pandemic in the state. Mecklenburg has about 8.7 reported cases per 10,000 residents.
(Mecklenburg’s population of 1.1 million people is more than 50 times that of Northampton’s.)
The N&O has been collecting data on the number of COVID-19 cases per county since Wake reported the state’s first on March 3.
On Monday, that figure topped 4,800 across 92 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, according to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and county health departments.
At least 97 people have died in 47 counties.
What started out as pockets of cases in the state’s urban population centers has now spread to their rural neighbors. Jones County near the coast, one of the state’s least populated counties with less than 10,000 residents, reported at least seven cases as of Monday.
The same thing is happening across the United States, the New York Times reported.
“A new wave of coronavirus cases is spreading deep into rural corners of the country where people once hoped their communities might be shielded because of their isolation from hard-hit urban centers and the natural social distancing of life in the countryside,” according to the Times.
More than two-thirds of the country’s rural counties are now reporting cases, the Times found.
Nursing home outbreak
Perched on the Virginia border, Northampton County is more than an hour from the North Carolina coast and about 100 miles northeast of Raleigh. When a COVID-19 outbreak hit a small assisted-living facility there in late March, what were 26 cases on March 29 have since climbed to 61.
Compared to Mecklenburg or Wake County, which has more than 475 reported cases, it’s a relatively small figure.
But in a county of just over 19,000 people, it has a much larger impact.
What about your county?
Scroll over the graphic below to find out how your county compares.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Which North Carolina counties are hardest hit by coronavirus? Here are the numbers."
