Update on COVID-19’s impact on rural America

COVID-19 is spreading in parts of the country and some of the highest numbers over the last week are coming from rural counties.

The number of “red zones” climbed 30 percent last week. The new stats put a record number of rural counties in these red zones.

The numbers also show deaths in rural counties have jumped 20 percent. An analysis found the number of COVID-19 related casualties in small towns made up one-fifth of the first 100,000 losses in the U.S.

That number climbed to half of the next 100,000 deaths.