Coronavirus in rural America (Part LXX): Density of cases highest in nonmetro counties in the South

I've been taking screen shots for the past couple of weeks of the New York Times graphic showing, at any given time, the ten counties with the highest density of coronavirus cases per population.  They consistently show a lot of nonmetro counties in Arkansas, as well as counties in adjacent states like Louisiana, Missouri and Texas.  A few Arizona counties and one California county are consistently on the list, too.  Here are the screen shots, starting with two I took on July 4th.

Screenshot New York Times July 4, 2020, 9:18 pm

Screenshot New York Times, July 4, 2020, 11:18 am

Screenshot, New York Times, July 3, 5:54 pm

Screenshot, New York Times, June 29, 2020, 7:10 am

McDonald County, Missouri, population 23,083 is just north of Benton County, Arkansas, which has been a metropolitan hot spot for a few weeks.  Indeed, McDonald County is part of that Arkansas-anchored metro area.  This was just published about McDonald County, by the nearby Springfield News Leader.  This statement is from a McDonald County presiding commisioner  Bill Lant, who says he is not too worried: 

[Lant] noted most of the more than 750 cases in his county could be attributed to asymptomatic workers at Tyson and Simmons Foods plants in Noel, and the state had sent workers to help with testing and contacting people who may have been exposed.

"Everything as far as I'm concerned is doing just fine," he said. "We just need to continue to be careful."

Read more about the meatpacking industry as a hub for coronavirus here.

East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, population 7,759, is the most northeasterly county in the state.   

Yell County, Arkansas has a population of 22,185. It is in the Arkansas River Valley, west of Little Rock.

Hot Spring County, Arkansas has a population of 32,923.  Its county seat is Malvern, and it is somewhat southwest of Little Rock.

Lee County, Arkansas has a population of 10,424.  Its county seat is Marianna, and it is in the Delta region.

Sevier County, Arkansas has a population of 17,058.  I wrote a great deal about Sevier County here, in particular its significant LatinX population.

Anderson County, Texas has a population of 58,458.  It is in east Texas.

Santa Cruz County, Arizona has a population of 47,420.  It is south of Tucson, on the Mexico border.

Chatahoochee County, Georgia has a population of 11,267.

Stewart County, Georgia, population 6,058, is in the same southwestern region of the state as Chatahoochee.

Imperial California is metropolitan, with a population of nearly 200,000, but it is intensely agricultural.  I wrote more about it here and here.

Yuma County, Arizona, also metropolitan with a population 195,751, is just across the state line from Imperial County, California.  Both are highly agricultural.

Brewster County, Texas, population 9,232, and home of Big Bend National Park and the trendy town of Marfa.  That region was mentioned in this recent post.

Grenada County, Mississippi has a population of 21,906.

Claiborne County, Mississippi, in the Delta region, has a population of 9,604.