The spread of COVID-19 in the United States has become virtually out of control. There were 181,191 new confirmed cases yesterday, according to The New York Times. Two weeks ago, the figures most days were half of that. A total of 1,389 people died, also a tremendous spike. The national total for confirmed cases has reached 10,818,600. Fatal cases have reached 244,200.
A very large number of fatal cases are concentrated in 20 counties, even though the rapid spread is currently in rural states like North Dakota.
The fatal case count among the large 20 counties with the highest numbers is dominated by the area in and around New York City. Four of these counties are among the five that make up New York City proper. The city has posted a total of 24,108 primarily because it was ravaged by the disease in late March, well into April. Deaths have slowed very considerably since then.
The two counties with the highest fatal case counts are Kings County which is the same as the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It has posted 7,443 deaths. Queens County in the city has had 7,319 deaths, also among the top 20 counties by that measure. Bronx County has posted 5,014 deaths. New York County, which covers the same area as Manhattan has had 3,200.
The areas adjacent to New York City have also been hit particularly hard. Middlesex County in New Jersey has had 2,341 deaths. Nassau County just to the east of New York on Long Island has had 2,226. Essex County in New Jersey has had 2,162 deaths. Bergen County, also in New Jersey has had 2,078 deaths. And, Westchester County, to the north, has had 1,482 deaths.
The county with the third-largest death toll is the largest in the nation by population–Los Angeles County. It has had 7,221 deaths. Its population of 10,105,518 makes it almost twice the size of any other county, by that measure. Cook County, the second largest in the nation with a population of 5,180,493. It includes the City of Chicago. Its fatal cases of 5,889 deaths puts it in the top 20. Harris County, Texas, home to Houston, is the third-largest county in the U.S. with a population of 4,698,619. Its fatal case count is 2,877.
Top 20 Counties By Fatal Cases (total deaths, county name)
7,443 deaths
Kings
7,319 deaths
Queens
7,221 deaths
Los Angeles
5,889 deaths
Cook
5,014 deaths
Bronx
3,759 deaths
Maricopa
3,701 deaths
Miami-Dade
3,200 deaths
New York
3,108 deaths
Wayne
2,877 deaths
Harris
2,341 deaths
Middlesex
2,226 deaths
Nassau
2,162 deaths
Essex
2,078 deaths
Bergen
2,023 deaths
Suffolk
1,994 deaths
Hidalgo
1,904 deaths
Philadelphia
1,619 deaths
Palm Beach
1,593 deaths
Clark
1,570 deaths
Broward
1,540 deaths
Hudson
1,525 deaths
Hartford
1,520 deaths
Orange
1,482 deaths
Westchester
1,460
Middlesex
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