Following a months long surge driven by the delta variant, new daily cases of COVID-19 are falling once again in the United States. To date, 44,501,723 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 716,720 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 Des Moines-West Des Moines metropolitan area, located in Iowa, a total of 98,909 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 15,596 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — above the national rate of 13,602 cases per 100,000 people.
Though per capita cases of COVID-19 are higher in Des Moines-West Des Moines than they are nationwide, some parts of the metro area are safer than others.
The broader Des Moines metro area comprises five counties or county equivalents — and of them, Madison County in Iowa has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 2,143 infections in Madison County, or 13,486 for every 100,000 people.
Though Madison County has the lowest per capita infection rate in the Des Moines metro area, its per capita fatality rate is closely in line with the regional average.
There have been a total of 157 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Madison County, compared to 154 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Des Moines-West Des Moines metro area.
All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Oct. 18, 2021.
These are all the counties in Iowa where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).
| Rank | Geography | COVID cases per 100,000 people | Total cases | Deaths per 100,000 people | Total deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madison County, IA | 13,486 | 2,143 | 157 | 25 |
| 2 | Guthrie County, IA | 14,428 | 1,540 | 319 | 34 |
| 3 | Warren County, IA | 15,466 | 7,634 | 194 | 96 |
| 4 | Polk County, IA | 15,539 | 73,698 | 151 | 716 |
| 5 | Dallas County, IA | 16,540 | 13,894 | 127 | 107 |
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