Special Report

This is the County in the Valdosta, GA Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: September 10, 2021 4:15 am

With slowing vaccination rates and the emergence of the delta variant, COVID-19 continues to spread through the United States. To date, 39,893,580 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 635,606 have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the Valdosta metropolitan area, located in Georgia, a total of 23,254 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 16,086 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — above the national rate of 12,194 cases per 100,000 people.

Though per capita cases of COVID-19 are higher in Valdosta than they are nationwide, some parts of the metro area are safer than others.

The broader Valdosta metro area comprises four counties or county equivalents — and of them, Lanier County in Georgia has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 1,282 infections in Lanier County, or 12,367 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does Lanier County have the lowest per capita infection rate in the Valdosta metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 135 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Lanier County, below the 219 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Valdosta metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Sept. 8, 2021.

These are all the counties in Georgia where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).