More than 825,000 people in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday April 22, by far the most confirmed cases of any country in the world. The disease, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has infected at least 2.4 million people in nearly every country on Earth. 

The World Health Organization releases daily statistics on countries and territories in its coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) situation reports. According to Tuesday’s report, there are 2,311 cases per 1 million people and 110 deaths per 1 million people in the U.S. — the 10th most and 13th most in the world. 

Modeling by epidemiologists suggests that if nothing is done to combat the spread of the virus, up to 80% of Americans could contract COVID-19. (Here’s a look at what countries are doing to flatten the curve). 

Within the United States, the virus has spread rapidly amid testing and protective equipment shortfalls. So far, 4,159,321 tests have been administered in the US, or about 13 for every 1,000 people nationwide. As states anticipate increased need for hospital beds, masks, ventilators, and other equipment, governors are competing with one another to purchase supplies. Here are the states where the virus is spreading the fastest right now.

To determine the states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths as reported by local and state government health agencies. We calculated the confirmed cases and deaths for every 100,000 state residents using one-year population data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey. 

The number of cases per capita appears closely related to testing rates and population density, as well as how early a state was exposed to the virus. We included this information for every state. 

Click here to see the states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
Click here to see our detailed findings and methodology.