Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the general line of thinking was that urban, densely populated areas would suffer more than sparsely populated rural areas due to the virus’s high transmissibility in areas where people are in close proximity. According to the CDC, however, COVID-19 infection rates in noncore or micropolitan areas – statistical areas that most laypeople would consider to be rural – began outpacing infection rates