How Kentucky compares to neighboring states for COVID-19 tests

There have been a lot of questions and concerns about testing for COVID-19 and in some places, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has skyrocketed as testing requirements relax and the number of tests grows.

According to state public health leaders, Kentucky has 35 positive cases from 489 total tests, as reported by

That means around seven percent of tests conducted here have come back positive.

That puts Kentucky right in the middle of surrounding states but percentage-wise in the low end.

It is higher than West Virginia and Missouri, which have fewer cases and tests than Kentucky and also higher than Virginia, which has more than double the number of cases here in Kentucky, but also substantially more tests done.

When it comes to comparing the number of tests, each state reports their numbers a little bit differently so that throws off these comparisons.

As testing expands to more labs, many states including Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia report the number of tests only from public or state labs and not from private or commercial labs.

Indiana shows 20 percent and Tennessee now shows 27 percent of positive cases out of tests conducted.

But again, it is hard to get an exact number.

Ohio does not report the number of tests but the latest numbers show more than 300 people have been monitored.

Questions remain about how widespread testing is, can be and should be and those concerns will likely stick around.

Because of the way many states are reporting test numbers, it is hard to find out just how many tests are being conducted.