How Every US State Is Doing in Respect to COVID-19 Test Positivity
Based on the World Health Organization 5% recommendation
The WHO recommends a 5% or lower COVID-19 test positivity rate in order to be sure that enough testing is being done to catch the majority of positive cases. While the United States as a whole is only at 7.5% test positivity over the past seven days, there are many states that are not nearly close to meeting the WHO requirements.
This means in these states testing is focused too much on the most extreme cases of coronavirus and it is likely that many asymptomatic individuals are slipping through the cracks and continuing to infect those with who they are in contact.
So which states are meeting the WHO requirements and which are not?
Here are the positivity percentages by region and state. The states that are not currently reaching the WHO’s recommendations are in bold.
Northeastern States
Connecticut: 0.8%
Maine: 1.6%
Massachusetts: 2.3%
New Hampshire: 2.1%
New Jersey: 1.5%
New York: 1.1%
Pennsylvania: 5.3%
Rhode Island: 1.6%
Vermont: 0.8%
The Northeast region is doing the best in terms of test positivity with only one out of its nine states not reaching the recommended percentage or lower.
Midwestern States
Illinois: 2.6%
Indiana: 6%
Iowa: 7.8%
Kansas: 10%
Michigan: 2.3%
Minnesota: 2.9%
Missouri: 4.9%
Nebraska: 6.1%
North Dakota: 3.5%
Ohio: 6.1%
South Dakota: 7.5%
Wisconsin: 6.1%
Seven out of the twelve Midwestern states are not currently meeting the WHO standards. These states might want to look towards Michigan which has consistently reduced its positivity rate since the beginning of the pandemic.
Southern States (and Washington D.C.)
Alabama: 13.4%
Arkansas: 8.2%
Delaware: 5.1%
District of Columbia: 1.8%
Florida: 18.5%
Georgia: 12.9%
Kentucky: 3.4%
Louisiana: 8.5%
Maryland: 4.7%
Mississippi: 16.7%
North Carolina: 6.6%
Oklahoma: 7.6%
South Carolina: 16.2%
Tennessee: 7.6%
Texas: 13%
Virginia: 5%
West Virginia: 2.4%
The test positivity situation in the Southern states is the worst in the country. 13 out of 16 states are currently seeing 5% or more tests coming back as positive. Five of these states have test positivity over 10%. The southern United States has a lot of work to do if it wants to get COVID-19 under control in its communities.
Western States
Alaska: 1.6%
Arizona: 25.6%
California: 6.8%
Colorado: 5%
Idaho: 11.4%
Hawaii: 1.4%
Montana: 2%
Nevada: 13.1%
New Mexico: 2.9%
Oregon: 4%
Utah: 9%
Washington: 4.7%
Wyoming: 6.2%
The Western region is also struggling to achieve the WHO test positivity percentage. Seven out of the 13 states in this region are currently at a 5% or higher test positivity for coronavirus.
This region also has the worst-performing state in the country which is Arizona. Since mid-May, their positive test percentage has only continued to increase and they have only reached a percentage below 5% two times since the start of the pandemic.
After almost 6 full months since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States, it is unacceptable that so many states still do not have the resources or proper testing requirements to effectively identify positive individuals who are currently infecting others unknowingly.
Until these states are able to take testing seriously, the virus will continue to spread throughout communities across the country.
