Special Report

These are the Counties in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area With the Most COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: September 8, 2021 3:30 am

As the delta variant continues to surge, and vaccinations slow, COVID-19 continues to spread through the population. To date, there have been 39,300,300 reported cases of the virus nationwide — and that number is growing every day.

In the Memphis metropolitan area, which covers parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, a total of 188,728 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 14,021 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — above the national rate of 12,012 cases per 100,000 people.

The higher than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Memphis is being driven by a high concentration of the virus in one area in particular.

The broader Memphis metro area comprises nine counties or county equivalents, which can include independent cities — and of them, Fayette County has the most COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 6,299 infections in Fayette County, or 15,870 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does Fayette County have the most COVID-19 infections per capita in the Memphis area, it also has more deaths attributable to the virus per capita than the metro area as a whole. There have been a total of 219 coronavirus deaths for every 100,000 people in Fayette County, compared to 206 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Memphis metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Sept. 3, 2021.

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