Rural Americans are currently twice as likely to die from COVID-19 infections compared with their urban peers, according to Kaiser Health News and data from the Rural Policy Research Institute (RPRI) at the University of Iowa.Since March 2020, 1 in 434 rural Americans have died from COVID-19, compared with roughly 1 in 513 urban Americans.
And unlike deaths in urban areas, the vaccine rollout has not slowed COVID-19 fatalities in rural parts of the country due to low uptake.
Short-staffed hospitals and limited access to healthcare are also contributing factors, the researchers say.Current 7-day average fatality rates are twice as high in rural regions, at more than 0.8 deaths per 100,000 population, compared with 0.4 per 100,000 in urban