Special Report

These Are the Counties in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: September 26, 2021 5:45 am

With the ongoing surge of the delta variant, COVID-19 continues to spread through the United States. To date, 42,163,561 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 673,728 have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News metropolitan area, which covers parts of Virginia and North Carolina, a total of 174,242 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 10,119 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 12,887 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Virginia Beach metro area comprises 16 counties or county equivalents — and of them, Williamsburg, an independent city, in Virginia has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 1,036 infections in Williamsburg, or 7,006 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does Williamsburg City have the lowest per capita infection rate in the Virginia Beach metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 95 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Williamsburg, below the 137 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Sept. 23, 2021.

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