Special Report
This is the County in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metro Area Where COVID-19 is Growing the Fastest
Published:
After adding over 289,000 new cases throughout the last week, the U.S. now has more than 33.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have been more than 600,000 COVID-19-related deaths — the highest death toll of any country.
New cases continue to rise at a faster rate. In the past week, there were an average of 10.3 daily new coronavirus cases per 100,000 Americans — an increase from the week prior, when there were an average of 4.2 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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA, metro area consists of Fulton County, Gwinnett County, DeKalb County, and 26 other counties. In the past week, there were an average of 8.3 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 Atlanta residents, in line with the national figure. The metro area’s average daily case growth in the most recent week is an increase from the week prior, when there was an average of 3.2 daily new cases per 100,000 Atlanta residents.
The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metro area, COVID-19 is growing the fastest in Morgan County. There were an average of 14.8 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in Morgan County during the past week, the most of the 29 counties in Atlanta with available data.
Case growth in the Atlanta metro area varies widely at the county level. In Meriwether County, for example, there were an average of 2.3 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the least of any county in Atlanta and far more than the case growth rate in Morgan County.
While Morgan County is driving the growth of COVID-19 in the Atlanta area, it does not have the highest incidence of cases overall. As of July 22, there were a total of 11,757.7 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in Morgan County, the eighth most of the 29 counties in the metro area. For comparison, the U.S. has so far reported 10,391.7 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 Morgan County, unemployment peaked at 11.5% in April 2020. As of April 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 3.1%.
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 July 22. 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.
Rank in MSA | County | Population | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending July. 22 | New daily cases per 100,000, week ending July. 15 | Cumulative cases per 100,000 | Cumulative deaths per 100,000 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Morgan County | 18,507 | 14.8 | 2.1 | 11,757.7 | 167.5 |
2 | Henry County | 225,356 | 12.1 | 4.2 | 11,651.8 | 150.0 |
3 | Bartow County | 104,919 | 12.0 | 4.4 | 14,395.9 | 227.8 |
4 | Butts County | 24,090 | 11.9 | 4.0 | 13,470.3 | 373.6 |
5 | Paulding County | 159,825 | 11.5 | 5.4 | 11,020.8 | 147.0 |
6 | Rockdale County | 89,717 | 11.4 | 4.2 | 8,927.0 | 200.6 |
7 | Pickens County | 31,387 | 10.4 | 2.7 | 11,320.0 | 254.9 |
8 | Barrow County | 78,991 | 10.0 | 4.1 | 13,067.3 | 186.1 |
9 | Douglas County | 143,316 | 9.3 | 2.5 | 11,000.9 | 162.6 |
10 | Cobb County | 751,218 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 10,788.5 | 148.7 |
11 | Carroll County | 117,183 | 8.6 | 4.1 | 9,976.7 | 209.9 |
12 | Coweta County | 143,260 | 8.5 | 4.2 | 10,152.9 | 162.6 |
13 | Fulton County | 1,036,200 | 8.5 | 3.3 | 9,684.3 | 142.9 |
14 | Haralson County | 29,227 | 8.4 | 7.0 | 9,299.6 | 311.4 |
15 | Clayton County | 283,538 | 8.2 | 3.7 | 9,802.9 | 185.9 |
16 | Gwinnett County | 915,046 | 8.2 | 2.6 | 11,380.5 | 132.8 |
17 | Newton County | 108,079 | 8.0 | 4.9 | 10,631.1 | 244.3 |
18 | Fayette County | 112,303 | 7.7 | 3.8 | 8,252.7 | 157.6 |
19 | Spalding County | 65,306 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 10,017.5 | 312.4 |
20 | Walton County | 91,442 | 6.6 | 2.7 | 11,826.1 | 289.8 |
21 | Forsyth County | 228,383 | 6.6 | 2.6 | 10,112.0 | 90.6 |
22 | Cherokee County | 247,515 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 12,838.0 | 135.3 |
23 | DeKalb County | 749,323 | 6.4 | 2.0 | 9,051.9 | 144.3 |
24 | Pike County | 18,327 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 12,969.9 | 240.1 |
25 | Heard County | 11,736 | 5.7 | 0.0 | 7,651.7 | 196.0 |
26 | Lamar County | 18,672 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 11,155.7 | 316.0 |
27 | Jasper County | 13,916 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 10,189.7 | 287.4 |
28 | Dawson County | 24,536 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 12,716.0 | 199.7 |
29 | Meriwether County | 21,106 | 2.3 | 4.4 | 9,836.1 | 431.2 |
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