After adding over 516,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 81.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 990,000 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 20.3 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — essentially unchanged from the week prior, when there were an average of 16.7 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 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 23.5 new cases a day per 100,000 residents in the past week — 22.6% greater than the case growth in all counties outside of metro areas.
The Morristown, TN, metro area consists of Hamblen County, Jefferson County, and Grainger County. In the past week, there were an average of 5.8 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Morristown residents, less than 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 was an average of 2.1 daily new cases per 100,000 Morristown residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Morristown metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Jefferson County. There were an average of 10.9 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County during the past week, the most of the three counties in Morristown with available data.
Case growth in the Morristown metro area varies widely at the county level. In Hamblen County, for example, there were an average of 2.5 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Morristown and far more than the case growth rate in Jefferson County.
While Jefferson County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Morristown area, it does not have the highest incidence of cases overall. As of May 12, there were a total of 29,387.7 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Jefferson County, the third most of the three counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 25,031.2 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. In Jefferson County, unemployment peaked at 17.2% in April 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 5.4%.
To determine the county in every metropolitan area where COVID-19 is growing the fastest, 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 May 12. To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 at the metropolitan level, we aggregated data up 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 May 12 | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending May 5 | Cumulative cases per 100,000 | Cumulative deaths per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jefferson County | 53,679 | 10.9 | 2.7 | 29,387.7 | 493.7 |
| 2 | Grainger County | 23,101 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 29,388.3 | 471.8 |
| 3 | Hamblen County | 64,132 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 30,760.0 | 550.4 |
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