After adding over 289,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 80.0 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 980,000 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 10.8 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 9.2 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 12.8 new cases a day per 100,000 residents in the past week — 24.5% greater than the case growth in all counties outside of metro areas.
The St. Joseph, MO-KS, metro area consists of Buchanan County, Andrew County, DeKalb County, and one other county. In the past week, there were an average of 107.2 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 St. Joseph residents, greater than the national figure. The metro area’s average daily case growth in the most recent week is an increase from the week prior, when there were an average of 0.2 daily new cases per 100,000 St. Joseph residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the St. Joseph metro area, COVID-19 is growing the slowest in Andrew County. There were an average of 0.0 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Andrew County during the past week, the least of the four counties in St. Joseph with available data.
Case growth in the St. Joseph metro area varies at the county level. In Buchanan County, for example, there were an average of 155.0 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the most of any county in St. Joseph and more than the case growth rate in Andrew County.
While Andrew County has the slowest case growth in the St. Joseph area, it does not have the lowest incidence of cases overall. As of April 21, there were a total of 27,092.5 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Andrew County, the third fewest of the four counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 24,640.3 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 Andrew County, unemployment peaked at 6.1% in April 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 3.7%.
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 21. 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.
| Rank in MSA | County | Population | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending April 21 | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending April 14 | Cumulative cases per 100,000 | Cumulative deaths per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew County | 17,503 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 27,092.5 | 325.7 |
| 2 | Doniphan County | 7,684 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 31,793.3 | N/A |
| 3 | DeKalb County | 12,526 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 17,611.4 | 367.2 |
| 4 | Buchanan County | 88,460 | 155.0 | 0.1 | 26,994.1 | 358.4 |
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