The significance of positive test rate rates is extremely dependent upon the slectiveness & availability of testing, which has trended higher but has varied in extreme ways.
Initially, only the sickest patients, most obviously suffering from COVID-19, were eligible for testing. We would of course expect positive test rates to be sky-high during this time, as we were only testing those whom we were pretty certain were infected and were suffering life-threatening symptoms.
Now, tests are more widely available. Testing is no longer tightly constrained to the most obvious suspected cases. So, with a wider swatch of the population being eligible for testing, we would probably expect the % of positive test rates to fall even as the number of infected goes up.
Initially, only the sickest patients, most obviously suffering from COVID-19, were eligible for testing. We would of course expect positive test rates to be sky-high during this time, as we were only testing those whom we were pretty certain were infected and were suffering life-threatening symptoms.
Now, tests are more widely available. Testing is no longer tightly constrained to the most obvious suspected cases. So, with a wider swatch of the population being eligible for testing, we would probably expect the % of positive test rates to fall even as the number of infected goes up.