COVID in the Land of Enchantment: New Mexico “up” to Fifth-Worst State, Los Alamos is its Least-Worst County

The headline: New Mexico has the fifth-worst weekly COVID rate (as of November 29^th), and Los Alamos County is the least-worst county in the state.

Feature Chart: The featured image illustrates the weekly COVID rates for all 50 states and DC from March through to November 29^th. Each line (or state) is colored proportionally to the estimated 2020 election results: Red lines/states voted for Trump (dark red indicates s strong Trump vote, light red a weaker Trump vote) and blue lines/states voted for Biden (dark blue indicates a strong Biden vote, light blue a weaker Biden vote).

Secondary chart: The second chart illustrates New Mexico county rates. Red lines/states voted for Trump (dark red indicates a strong Trump vote, light red a weaker Trump vote) and blue lines/states voted for Biden (dark blue indicates a strong Biden vote, light blue a weaker Biden vote). The thick green line indicates the state-wide rate.

Observations:

• New Mexico had the fifth-worst COVID rate as of November 29^th (it had the fourth-worst rate as of November 27^th).
• More than two-thirds of US states have plateaued or declining weekly COVID rates. Notable exceptions include Ohio, Oklahoma, and Nevada.
• Los Alamos County currently has the lowest county rate in New Mexico, followed by Mora County and Harding County.
• New Mexico’s overall rate has been declining for three consecutive days.
• Of New Mexico’s 33 counties, only a few (e.g., Los Alamos County and Colfax County) have not plateaued or declined in the last week.
• Los Alamos is the tenth most populous county (19,369 residents according to the Census Bureau in 209) in the US without recording a resident’s COVID-related death. Clatsop County in Oregon (40,224 people) is the largest.
• Of the 2,424 US counties with at least 10,000 people (there are 3,142 US counties), Los Alamos has the 45^th lowest cumulative rate. Los Alamos has 142 cumulative cases translating to a case rate of 7,331 per million people.
• Kauai County has the lowest cumulative rate of counties with at least 10,000 people, with a rate of 1,549 per million.
• The counties with the 10-best rates are in Hawaii, Maine, Washington, Virginia, and Vermont.
• The counties with the 10-worst rates are in Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, North Dakota, and Montana.  

The data: COVID-19 data were collected from USAFacts (https://usafacts.org/visualizations/coronavirus-covid-19-spread-map/). All data were collected and compiled by Charted Territory.