Percentage of positive COVID-19 tests increasing in AL

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - New numbers in Tuesday from Johns Hopkins University and Medicine show our state with a 16.5% positive COVID-19 test rate.

It's a number the Alabama Department of Public Health would definitely want to see much lower.

Monday night, we spoke with Dr. Karen Landers to find out whether our state was doing enough testing, after an article in the New York Times showed our state at 24% of the target number of daily tests.

On Tuesday, Alabama was listed at 20% of the target.

But when it came to our state's positive test rate, Johns Hopkins shows Alabama at a 16.5% positive rate.

"We have a lot of COVID-19 in the state. I think that's a number we would certainly like to see much lower," said Dr. Landers. "Not only with the testing ongoing, but reminding people of the ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 so that we don't have as many cases."

To give some context: our state’s positive rate at 16.5%, while the World Health Organization says positive rates should be at or below 5 percent for at least 14 days before a state or country can safely reopen.

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