Special Report

COVID-19: This is the Least Dangerous County in the Charleston, WV Metro Area

Samuel Stebbins

Published: June 18, 2021 2:15 am

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts, the novel coronavirus continues to spread through the United States. To date, 33,151,678 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 594,888 have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the Charleston metropolitan area, located in West Virginia, a total of 18,158 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 8,356 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 10,133 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Charleston is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Charleston metro area comprises three counties or county equivalents — and of them, Clay County in West Virginia has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 542 infections in Clay County, or 6,170 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does Clay County have the lowest per capita infection rate in the Charleston metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 114 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Clay County, below the 183 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Charleston metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of June 16, 2021.

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