After adding over 208,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 79.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 970,000 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 9.0 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 9.1 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.
While COVID-19 has spread to nearly every part of the country, cities continue to be the sites of major outbreaks. 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.
In the 50 largest metro areas, the incidence of coronavirus grew at an average rate of 10.2 new cases a day per 100,000 residents in the past week — 17.4% greater than the case growth in all counties outside of metro areas.
The Boise City, ID, metro area consists of Ada County, Canyon County, Gem County, and two other counties. In the past week, there were an average of 9.0 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Boise City residents, in line with the national figure. The metro area’s average daily case growth in the most recent week is essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 10.2 daily new cases per 100,000 Boise City residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Boise City metro area, COVID-19 is growing the slowest in Owyhee County. There were an average of 0.2 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Owyhee County during the past week, the least of the five counties in Boise City with available data.
Case growth in the Boise City metro area varies widely at the county level. In Ada County, for example, there were an average of 13.0 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the most of any county in Boise City and far more than the case growth rate in Owyhee County.
While Owyhee County has the slowest case growth in the Boise City area, it does not have the lowest incidence of cases overall. As of April 7, there were a total of 19,589.7 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Owyhee County, the second fewest of the five counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 24,484.6 cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.
The pandemic has led to the closure of thousands of consumer-facing businesses around the country. These changes have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. These changes have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. In Owyhee County, unemployment peaked at 11.0% in April 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 3.8%.
To determine the county in every metropolitan area where COVID-19 is growing the slowest, 24/7 Wall St. compiled and reviewed data from state and local health departments. We ranked counties according to the average number of new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the seven days ending April 7. 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 not seasonally adjusted.
These are all the counties in Idaho where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).
| Rank in MSA | County | Population | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending April 7 | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending March 31 | Cumulative cases per 100,000 | Cumulative deaths per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Owyhee County | 11,552 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 19,589.7 | 458.8 |
| 2 | Boise County | 7,378 | 0.8 | 9.7 | 14,787.2 | 176.2 |
| 3 | Canyon County | 217,633 | 1.9 | 2.7 | 28,209.4 | 312.0 |
| 4 | Gem County | 17,331 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 20,997.1 | 455.8 |
| 5 | Ada County | 456,849 | 13.0 | 14.3 | 29,264.8 | 221.7 |
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