Special Report

This Is the County in the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: January 28, 2022 4:00 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, 862,863 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 Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area, which covers parts of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, a total of 1,064 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 297 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 264 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 Huntington metro area comprises seven counties or county equivalents — and of them, Cabell County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Cabell County stands at 335 for every 100,000 people.

Though it has the highest per capita death rate in the Huntington-Ashland metro area, Cabell 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. 26, 2022.

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