Started By
Message
re: Alabama Board Coronavirus Thread
Posted on 5/24/20 at 6:32 am to phil4bama
Posted on 5/24/20 at 6:32 am to phil4bama
Phil, I know nothing about the Florida report but the Georgia one is a non-issue that is IMO being driven by politics. They didn't change any numbers. They had a bar chart on their covid site that was sorted by number instead of date, simple as that. The numbers weren't inaccurate the chart just didn't provide any useful information other than which days had the most infections.
Slightly related, while annoying, all these states (and there are a bunch) that are getting antibody tests and virus tests co-mingled in their reporting doesn't bother me either. The antibody folks were at one time positive so they still had it at some point.
I said it in the other thread and I'll repeat it here - the only number that really matters is the current hospitalizations. If the cases needing that level of care are rising, you have an issue. If they're steady or falling, you don't. Again, my opinion, the reason certain groups are suddenly focusing of relatively minor data mistakes is because they predicted certain areas to be the next New York and that hasn't happened.
Slightly related, while annoying, all these states (and there are a bunch) that are getting antibody tests and virus tests co-mingled in their reporting doesn't bother me either. The antibody folks were at one time positive so they still had it at some point.
I said it in the other thread and I'll repeat it here - the only number that really matters is the current hospitalizations. If the cases needing that level of care are rising, you have an issue. If they're steady or falling, you don't. Again, my opinion, the reason certain groups are suddenly focusing of relatively minor data mistakes is because they predicted certain areas to be the next New York and that hasn't happened.
2
Posted on 5/24/20 at 8:12 am to JustGetItRight
The problem though is the Gov of GA and in other states are touting numbers of new cases are declining to justify reopening but based on the information coming out those numbers are being skewed.
LINK
So it is an issue in GA when numbers that are being used to depict the virus are being falsely presented to the public. This is not a political call out from inside the state this being reported nationally now from multiple sources that are being validated by medical professionals. The numbers were not accurate at all when the two tests were being combined as they look at two totally different things and now requiring negative test results to show decreases. No matter how you spin that the numbers that the public were being told were a lie.
Now in the end it may not matter on how it affects the hospitals and deaths but the data being told to the public has been a flat out lie based on all the information coming out now regarding GA.
quote:
A representative for the Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed Monday that data on its website listing the total number of tests performed includes both antibody and viral tests for the novel coronavirus. The two tests are not the same. Antibody tests tell signs of previous infections while viral tests identify those who are currently infected.
“You’re putting apples and oranges together and calling them oranges,” said Dr. Harry J. Heiman, a clinical associate professor at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health. “You’re mixing two different tests. ...All that does is over-inflate the testing number.
“If anything, it skews those numbers to make it appear like the level of disease relative to testing is actually dropping much more dramatically than it is.”
On its website that explains the data it reports, Georgia health officials do not indicate antibody testing is included in the total testing count. Nor did officials say that some labs or medical facilities were not reporting negative tests. Issues like these “continue to erode the credibility that the Department of Public Health has as an honest broker of reporting test results,” Heiman said. “What we have is a continuing process of having to make adaptations to the reporting because of logistical challenges — some with the Department of Public Health, but some with partners that are doing testing — without any transparency about changes that are being made,” he said. “This is not the first time, not the second time, not the third but the fifth or sixth time that you have failed to appropriately communicate what you are doing.”
LINK
So it is an issue in GA when numbers that are being used to depict the virus are being falsely presented to the public. This is not a political call out from inside the state this being reported nationally now from multiple sources that are being validated by medical professionals. The numbers were not accurate at all when the two tests were being combined as they look at two totally different things and now requiring negative test results to show decreases. No matter how you spin that the numbers that the public were being told were a lie.
Now in the end it may not matter on how it affects the hospitals and deaths but the data being told to the public has been a flat out lie based on all the information coming out now regarding GA.
Posted on 5/24/20 at 8:18 am to JustGetItRight
quote:
JustGetItRight
When measures such as Rt infection rate are the main data being used by all scientists to predict safety in re-opening to larger gatherings, larger scale events, I would say that it matters quite a bit.
Adding those antibody tests at the specific juncture they chose accomplishes two aims:
1) Counters criticism of low testing rates
2) Most significantly, artificially makes Georgia's and Texas' Rt rate of infection appear to trend lower at the same time restrictions were lifted.
Perhaps worse: Throwing apples into the basket of oranges in such a haphazard manner also renders any comparative research on timelines of infection and different conditions of weather/areas of the country much less accurate at the exact time when enough data is becoming available to finally get a clearer picture.
I should not even have to add that states like Georgia and Texas doing this -- and immediately attempting to efface that they are doing so -- is worrisome to say the least when those states are currently in the spotlight of research/arguments from all directions about the timing of prudent timelines in getting completely back to normal without massive setbacks.
This post was edited on 5/25/20 at 12:30 pm
Page 1 of 1
Latest Alabama News
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News