These Are The Bay Area Counties Where COVID-19 Is Growing The Slowest

San Francisco CA

26 July, 2021

12:24 PM

Description

24/7 Wall St. San Francisco 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 different neighborhoods and a large population may be particularly at-risk. The San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA, metro area consists of Alameda County, Contra Costa County, San Francisco County, and two other counties. In the past week, there were an average of 10.8 new coronavirus cases every day per 100,000 San Francisco 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 were an average of 2.3 daily new cases per 100,000 San Francisco residents. The spread of coronavirus depends on a variety of factors and can vary even between neighboring counties. Within the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metro area, COVID-19 is growing the slowest in San Mateo County. There were an average of 6.5 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in San Mateo County during the past week, the least of the five counties in San Francisco with available data. Case growth in the San Francisco metro area varies at the county level. In Contra Costa County, for example, there were an average of 13.2 new cases per day per 100,000 residents in the past week — the most of any county in San Francisco and more than the case growth rate in San Mateo County. While San Mateo County has the slowest case growth in the San Francisco area, it does not have the lowest incidence of cases overall. As of July 22, there were a total of 5,645.4 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in San Mateo County, the fourth fewest of the five 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 San Mateo County, unemployment peaked at 11.4% in April 2020. As of April 2021, the county's unemployment rate was 4.8%. To determine the county in every metropolitan area where COVID-19 is growing the slowest, 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 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 California where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it's still getting worse). Can't see the article's infographic? Click here to view the original story. This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.