Tennessee top state in COVID cases per million

A graphic making the rounds on social media paints Tennessee in an unflattering light when it comes to the spread of COVID-19. Eric Topol, the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, tweeted two charts showing Tennessee and Ohio as the only places in the world where the infection rates have hit 1,000 per million.

Where is the highest place in the world now for new cases per population?
Tennessee (new); Ohio 2nd, still rising.
These are the only places with >1000/M globally. pic.twitter.com/AlBudArTdi

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) December 15, 2020

The CovidExitStrategy.org map and a Financial Times chart come from data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project.

UPDATE: Arizona has since been added to the list of states with more than 1,000 infections per million.

The New York Times also has this chart of the cities where infections are rising the fastest, which includes eight in Tennessee: