Lowest ranked states and possessions for COVID-19 tests per million population.
by James C. Sherlock
Virginia trails almost all U.S. states and possessions in the percentage of the population tested for the COVID-19 virus — even as Governor Ralph Northam has made extensive testing a prerequisite for ending the shutdown. Guam has performed more tests per capita than Virginia. Among the 50 states, Virginia exceeds only Kansas by a slim margin.
The accompanying table draws from The COVID Tracking website, which in turn pulled data from Virginia Department of Health website, effective April 22, 2020. I used state population figures from latest Census Bureau estimates for July 1, 2019.
States with highest ratio of COVID-19 tests per million population.
Compare the data released by the emergency operations center of the government of Guam today with information released by Virginia. Notice that the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS), in collaboration with the Government of Guam and federal and private partners, will launch a COVID-19 Pilot Project Drive-Through/Walk-In Testing of COVID-19 for residents who live in Sagan Linhanyan and Lower Astumbo, Dededo. The drive-through/walk-in testing will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 25 at the Astumbo Gym in Dededo.
Testing is limited and is free and open to residents of Sagan Linhanyan (South of the Naval Base) and Lower Astumbo (Central mountains) who meet the following criteria:
• Individuals with COVID-19 symptoms
• Multi-generational families in a household (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, adult children, their children) with COVID-19 symptoms
Please also notice that Guam has the Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 tests and has handled them properly, unlike some states. You haven’t missed similar announcements from Virginia because there aren’t any.
After Saturday Guam will likely dwarf Virginia in tests/million The Commonwealth of Virginia is pitifully behind.
