After adding over 2,974,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 74.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 880,000 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 165.5 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — a decrease from the week prior, when there were an average of 235.2 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 neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk.

The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC, metro area consists of Catawba County, Burke County, Caldwell County, and one other county. In the past week, there were an average of 257.8 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Hickory residents, greater than 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 292.3 daily new cases per 100,000 Hickory residents.

The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Catawba County. There were an average of 299.6 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Catawba County during the past week, the most of the four counties in Hickory with available data.

Case growth in the Hickory metro area varies at the county level. In Burke County, for example, there were an average of 199.4 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Hickory and more than the case growth rate in Catawba County.

Just as Catawba County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Hickory area, it also has the highest incidence of cases overall. As of February 3, there were a total of 28,089.7 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Catawba County, the most of the four counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 23,032.9 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 Catawba County, unemployment peaked at 18.7% in April 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 4.7%.

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 February 3. 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.

These are all the counties in North Carolina 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 February 3	New daily cases per 100,000, week ending January 27	Cumulative cases per 100,000	Cumulative deaths per 100,000
1	Catawba County	157,613	299.6	345.5	28,089.7	317.9
2	Alexander County	37,213	281.7	251.8	26,566.0	327.8
3	Caldwell County	81,884	230.5	284.0	24,794.8	298.0
4	Burke County	89,968	199.4	223.3	24,851.1	296.8

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