Special Report

COVID-19: Flagstaff, AZ Metro Area Among the Most Dangerous in America

Tomas Ragina / iStock via Getty Images

The U.S. reported over 16,000 new cases of coronavirus on June 10, bringing the total count to more than 33.0 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 592,000 COVID-19-related deaths — the highest death toll of any country.

New cases continue to rise at a steady rate. In the past week, there were an average of 5.6 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 5.6 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.

While new data shows that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is high in almost every part of the country, cities continue to be the sites of major outbreaks and superspreader events. Experts agree that the virus is more likely to spread in group settings where large numbers of people routinely have close contact with one another, such as colleges, nursing homes, bars, and restaurants. Metropolitan areas with a high degree of connectivity between different neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk.

The Flagstaff, AZ metro area consists of just Coconino County. As of June 10, there were 12,655.5 confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 Flagstaff residents, the 43rd highest rate of all 383 metro areas with available data. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.

In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, city and county governments have ordered the closure of thousands of consumer-facing businesses. These measures have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. In the Flagstaff metro area, unemployment peaked at 17.9% in April 2020. As of March 2021, the metro area’s unemployment rate was 8.0%.

To determine how the incidence of COVID-19 in the Flagstaff, AZ metro area compares to the rest of the country, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked metro areas based on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 at the metropolitan level, we aggregated data from the county level using boundary definitions from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population data used to adjust case and death totals came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Unemployment data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is seasonally adjusted.

These are all the counties in Arizona where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).

FIPS MSA Population Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Jun 10 Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Jun 10 per 100,000 residents Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of Jun 10 Cumulative COVID-19 deaths as of Jun 10 per 100,000 residents
49740 Yuma, AZ 209,468 37,263 17,789.4 843 402.4
38060 Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ 4,761,603 606,327 12,733.7 11,025 231.5
22380 Flagstaff, AZ 141,274 17,879 12,655.5 331 234.3
46060 Tucson, AZ 1,027,207 116,905 11,380.9 2,413 234.9
29420 Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ 207,695 23,195 11,167.8 741 356.8
43420 Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ 125,867 12,098 9,611.7 290 230.4
39150 Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ 228,067 19,363 8,490.0 513 224.9

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