DOTHAN, Ala. – After adding over 141,000 new cases, the U.S. now has more than 24,600,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 400,000 COVID-19-related deaths — the highest death toll of any country.
New cases continue to rise, albeit at a slowing rate. In the past week, there were an average of 57.5 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — a decrease from the week prior, when there were an average of 71.9 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 61.2 new cases a day per 100,000 residents in the past week — 8.4% greater than the case growth in all counties outside of metro areas.
The Dothan, AL, metro area consists of Houston County, Geneva County, and Henry County. In the past week, there were an average of 58.2 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Dothan residents, in line with the national figure. The metro area’s average daily case growth in the most recent week is a decrease from the week prior, when there was an average of 73.9 daily new cases per 100,000 Dothan residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Dothan metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Henry County. There were an average of 68.1 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Henry County during the past week, the most of the three counties in Dothan with available data.
Case growth in the Dothan metro area varies at the county level. In Houston County, for example, there were an average of 56.8 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Dothan and less than the case growth rate in Henry County.
Just as Henry County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Dothan area, it also has the highest incidence of cases overall. As of Jan. 24, there were a total of 9,337.8 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Henry County, the most of the three counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 7,645.6 cases per 100,000 Americans nationwide.
In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, city and county governments have ordered the closure of thousands of consumer-facing businesses. These measures have led to widespread job loss and record unemployment. In Henry County, unemployment peaked at 9.2% in April 2020. As of November 2020, the county’s unemployment rate was 3.6%.
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 Jan. 24. 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 2018 American Community Survey and are five-year estimates. Unemployment data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and is not seasonally adjusted.
