One Northeast Florida county and one Southeast Georgia county are among the top 20 counties in the “danger zone” for the Delta variant, according to a national health nonprofit.
Surgo Ventures analyzed data from the CDC from July on the Delta variant, which now makes up 83% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
Two of the top 20 counties are in the Action News Jax viewing areas of Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia.
The analysis found that Charlton County, Georgia, was the most hard-hit county in the country in terms of new COVID-19 cases.
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Charlton County is the southernmost county in Georgia and 14.5% of the population is vaccinated. The county has an average of 62 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 as of last week.
In Georgia, Lanier, Telfair, Heard, Jeff Davis, Treutlen and Bacon counties also made the list.
In Baker County, Florida, 20.1% of the population is vaccinated and the county has an average of 75 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 as of last week, the data show.
In Florida, Holmes and Washington counties also made the list.
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The other states with counties that made the list are in Texas, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, and South Dakota.
The counties are ranked based on lowest vaccination rate.
“We believe these 20 counties are Delta danger zones, which means they represent the strongest convergence of COVID-19 vulnerability, underlying community barriers to vaccine uptake, and low vaccination rates of all counties in the United States at this point in time,” said Dr. Sema Sgaier, Co-Founder and CEO of Surgo Ventures and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “We are calling on public health officials and local leaders in these counties to take immediate action,
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Top 20 counties in the Delta “danger zone:”
COUNTY: Percent vaccinated Average daily cases per 100,000
- Charlton, GA 14.5% 62
- Newton, TX 17.3% 51
- Pemiscot, MO 17.8% 8
- McDonald, MO 18.4% 28
- Grundy, TN 18.4% 7
- Ziebach, SD 18.8% 5
- Hempstead, AR 19.1% 10
- Ripley, MO 19.5% 27
- Lanier, GA 19.8% 7
- Motley, TX 20% 0
- Baker, FL 20.1% 75
- Telfair, GA 20.2% 11
- Heard, GA 20.5% 13
- Holmes, FL 20.8% 11
- Washington, FL 21.3% 26
- Carter, MO 21.4% 77
- Jeff Davis, GA 21.4% 9
- Texas, MO 21.5% 37
- Treutlen, GA 21.6% 29
- Bacon, GA 21.7% 26
Sources for attribution: Surgo Ventures, CDC, and Covid Act Now as of July 19, 2021.
©2021 Cox Media Group
