Special Report

These Are the Counties in the Fort Smith, AR-OK Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: January 14, 2022 2:45 am

As the omicron variant spreads, new daily cases of COVID-19 have hit new highs in the United States and the virus continues to claim lives. So far, 833,519 Americans have died from the virus — more than the total number of Americans killed in World War I and World War II combined.

In the Fort Smith metropolitan area, which covers parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma, a total of 803 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 286 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 255 deaths have been attributed to the virus per 100,000 people.

The higher than average per capita COVID-19 death rate across the metro area is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Fort Smith metro area comprises four counties or county equivalents — and of them, Sebastian County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Sebastian County stands at 326 for every 100,000 people.

Though it has the highest per capita death rate in the Fort Smith metro area, Sebastian County ranks among the middle 50% of all U.S. counties or county equivalents by COVID-19 death rate per capita.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Jan. 12, 2022.

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