Birx: Metro DC Area Has Highest COVID Positivity Rate

May 22, 2020 Coronavirus, Government

White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx said Friday that the Washington, D.C., metro area currently has the highest COVID-19 positivity rate out of all cities across the country.

Birx said that the D.C. metro area, which includes Northern Virginia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, currently leads the country in the percentage of positive cases compared to the total number of people tested for the novel coronavirus.

The D.C. metro region is followed by Baltimore, Chicago and Minneapolis, Birx said. Birx said that the areas with the largest percentage of cases — Maryland, D.C. and Virginia — all have positivity rates under 20 percent compared to 42 states where positivity rates are under 10 percent.

DC, Baltimore, Chicago and Minneapolis are currently the metro areas with the highest coronavirus positivity rates, Dr. Birx says. pic.twitter.com/LoSjeujCqA

— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 22, 2020

The DC metro area has the highest #coronavirus positivity rate, says Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator

— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) May 22, 2020