Special Report

This Is the County in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: June 17, 2022 3:45 am

More than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 – more than the total number of Americans killed in World War I and World War II combined.

In the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metropolitan area, located in North Carolina, a total of 1,393 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 381 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 306 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 Hickory metro area comprises four counties or county equivalents — and of them, Alexander County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Alexander County stands at 391 for every 100,000 people.

Though it has the highest per capita death rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro area, Alexander 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 June 15, 2022.

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