How many COVID-19 tests has your county done?

April 21, 2020

Collins Parker,

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – The debate over when people should go back to work and out of the house is often based on testing.

While the issue of COVID-19 testing has become a political football, here is a look at how our local areas have done.

We told you that Hamilton County is lagging behind on testing. We are 4th in size in Tennessee, but 9th in testing.

But the numbers for surrounding counties also have a few surprises:

We rank them based on their population, then tests, then cases. (GEORGIA DOES NOT POST THE NUMBER OF TESTS BY COUNTY)

Hamilton (4th- 358,000) 1,751 tests, 121 case, 13 deaths

Bradley (13th-105,000) 516 tests, 37 cases, 1 death

McMinn (29th, 53,000) 571 tests, 6 cases

Jackson AL (52,000) 548 tests, 46 cases, 2 deaths

Rhea (45th, 33,000) 288 tests, 2 cases

Marion (51st, 28,000) 182 tests, 28 cases, 1 death

Cherokee NC (28,000) 363 tests, 18 cases, 1 death

Cherokee AL (26,000) 104 tests, 12 cases

Polk (74th, 17,000) 77 tests, 5 cases

Sequatchie (77th, 15,000) 183 tests, 3 cases

Bledsoe (78th, 15,000) 1,012 tests, 10 cases

Grundy (81st, 13,000) 214 tests, 25 cases, 1 death

Meigs (83rd – 12,000) 94 tests, 3 cases

So what did we learn?

Bradley is way short on testing, behind two counties with half their population.

2. Marion County also is behind on testing, but has a lot of cases.

3. Despite being one of the smallest, Bledsoe County is blowing away all their neighbors for testing, yet only have 10 cases. McMinn and Rhea also have great cases-per-test rates.

4. Georgia won’t break down how many tests are being done in each county, even as their COVID-19 cases & deaths dwarf their neighbors’ numbers.

BY STATE

TN 101,000 tests – 7,200 cases – 152 deaths

Tennessee has the highest testing rate of the four, and the 12th highest testing numbers in the country. We are the 16th largest state with the 19th highest number of cases.

GA 84,000 tests – 19,000 cases – 774 deaths

Georgia is lagging behind where we should be. The state is the 8th largest in the country, but only ranks 14 for testing.

NC 79,000 tests – 6,700 cases- 179 deaths

North Carolina is in the same boat as Georgia, 9th biggest but only 15th in testing. Still their number of cases are far lower.

AL 46,000 tests, 5,000 cases, 164 deaths

Alabama is about where they should be on testing and the number of cases, based on their population.