+1,800 cases in Tennessee today merits some observations about what I’m seeing in the data.

What follows are some loosely organized thoughts on where we are.

1. The narrative that “most of those getting infected are young” does not hold generally – its mostly the case in urban areas.

2. It is very much the case that the number of tests has gone up considerably.

But there is a worrying trend that I think applies nationally as well as to Tennessee.

Testing supply chains and reporting processes are gummed up with the volume of tests.

The time it takes for a test to be processed and reported is getting longer and longer.

What this means is that our current picture of the pandemic is receding more and more into the rearview mirror.

We can’t contact trace to keep infections corralled until we know there’s a case. But if that takes a week, we’ve lost precious time.

You can read more about the testing supply chain issues in this critically important piece that dropped yesterday. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/06/us-coronavirus-testing-could-fail-again/613675/