COVID-19 Positivity Rates

[qwlauren35]

I posted the case numbers on FB the other day and a few people said that since testing has quadrupled, case numbers would go up, so a better measure is the positivity rate: how many cases compared to how many people are tested.

So I found a tracker for the positivity rate: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/individual-states

Back in March, so few people were tested that the positivity rate was 20%. By mid-June it was down to 4%. It is rising again, and is around 7% now.

Some states, following Trump's guidance, are not testing as much as they should be - their numbers are around 14%.
/https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/testing-positivity

[Stuart G]

1. Thank You for this information...K and R

[2golddogs]

2. positivity tracker

thanks a lot for this, it’s exactly the kind of thing i need. i’m not good with numbers and didn’t really know how to explain it that the percentages derived from the data are the indicator, not simply the rising number of positives you’d expect to see with a rising number of tested people. it’s hard to believe, but i work in a medical environment with co-workers who swear by the idea that positive numbers are up simply because we’re testing more. it’s been infuriating listening to the oversimplification and just flat-out ignorance. one of my biggest mindfucks with this whole thing is how people can let their political bias overrule their own common sense, education, and training.

[NoMoreRepugs]

3. 20 of the 22 states in excess of 5% are Rethug controlled states. HMMMMMMM?