Sixty-four percent of all rural counties in the U.S. do not have a COVID-19 testing site, according to a recent analysis.
The Surgo Foundation, a nonprofit focused on solving health and social problems worldwide, analyzed data on COVID-19 testing sites from GISCorps and coronavirus case data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 data repository. GISCorps coordinates geographic information system services to communities globally. Find out more here.
The new analysis shows that the lack of COVID-19 testing sites has left about 20.7 million people in a testing desert.
In rural counties without testing sites, cases and deaths are growing much faster than they in their rural counterparts with sites. The analysis also shows that compared to the average rural American, Black Americans are 1.7 times more likely to live in these testing deserts.
Read more about the analysis here.