Special Report

This Is the County in the Charleston, WV Metro Area with the Most Deaths from COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: October 22, 2021 2:15 am

Following a months long surge driven by the delta variant, new daily cases of COVID-19 are falling once again in the United States. Still, the virus continues to claim lives. So far, 719,694 Americans have died from the virus — more than the total number of Americans killed in World War I and World War II combined.

In the Charleston metropolitan area, located in West Virginia, a total of 517 deaths have been attributed to the virus, equal to 238 fatalities for every 100,000 people. Nationwide, 220 deaths have been attributed to the virus per 100,000 people.

The higher than average per capita COVID-19 death rate across the metro area is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Charleston metro area comprises three counties or county equivalents — and of them, Kanawha County has had the most COVID-19 fatalities per capita. So far, the per capita coronavirus death rate in Kanawha County stands at 242 for every 100,000 people.

Though it has the highest per capita death rate in the Charleston metro area, Kanawha County ranks among the middle 50% of all U.S. counties or county equivalents by COVID-19 death rate per capita.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Oct. 20, 2021.

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