RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — More than five dozen people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Rutherford County and testing efforts are continuing in Murfreesboro.

At the Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, people can learn if they’ve contracted COVID-19. The site has tested 218 people since it opened last Thursday.

The state has reported 68 cases of COVID-19 in Rutherford County, which is now 5th highest in the state for the virus.

Testing residents is a significant focus for the state.

“We have conducted 27,000 tests in our state, and that’s a strong number per capita, for our state, I’m proud of that, we’ll be talking about some of the numbers going forward, testing is one of the most important ways we can attack this COVID-19 epidemic,” said Governor Bill Lee.

People are screened over the phone by calling the Rutherford County Health Department, then they’re asked about symptoms like fever, coughing, and shortness of breath, and exposure to a person who tested positive. That determines if that caller needs to be tested.

About a third of those callers have been tested. The current turnaround time for testing is about five to seven days, depending on volume.

That’s something many counties are grappling with, including Davidson County.

“How long it takes for test results to come back, our tests we’re doing at our assessment centers as well as what every other facility is doing are all different labs, we’re using a private lab the state has arranged for us that is purely a function of how those labs can process the tests,” explained Dr. Alex Jahangir with the Metro coronavirus task force.

COVID-19 in Tennessee

(This reflects what the TDH is reporting each day at 2 p.m. CST )

Stay with News 2 for continuing coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

MORE COVERAGE