These Are the Counties In the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area Where COVID-19 Is Growing the Fastest

After adding over 561,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 77.9 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 930,000 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 31.4 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — a decrease from the week prior, when there were an average of 60.3 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 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA, metro area consists of Providence County, Bristol County, Kent County, and three other counties. In the past week, there were an average of 20.8 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Providence residents, less 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 64.0 daily new cases per 100,000 Providence residents.

The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Providence-Warwick metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Washington County. There were an average of 39.3 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Washington County during the past week, the most of the six counties in Providence with available data.

Case growth in the Providence metro area varies at the county level. In Providence County, for example, there were an average of 17.7 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Providence and more than the case growth rate in Washington County.

While Washington County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Providence area, it does not have the highest incidence of cases overall. As of February 24, there were a total of 24,402.7 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Washington County, the fifth most of the six counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 24,014.4 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 Washington County, unemployment peaked at 15.9% in April 2020. As of June 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 5.2%.

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 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 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 Rhode Island where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).