Monroe County’s positivity rate for all COVID-19 tests Friday is 8.2 percent. The county’s positivity rate for unique individuals for the day is 11.8 percent.
IU Health infectious disease expert Dr. Tom Hrisomalos said looking at data from different angles is important for understanding the county’s progress.
The unique individual positivity rate tracks how many people have tested positive for COVID-19, but not the number of times they’ve been tested.
The all-test positivity rate counts all positive test results and all tests processed. Hrisomalos said it’s important to look at both averages and use them in the right context.
“People who maybe tested positive that are going back and testing again and again and again to see when their test might be negative– all these tests can confound the statistics," he said. "So, we need multiple measures to try to get a handle on what’s really happening.”
Hrisomalos said all-test positivity rates on a seven-day rolling average helps get a good snapshot of where the county stands that week. Unique individual rates are important to track while considering how many people are repeat testers.
He says Monroe County’s spike in cases appears to correlate with students coming back to town, as a majority of the county’s cases are in people under 29 years old.
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