So my local media is pushing the fact that the number of positive Covid-19 tests is again on the rise.
The number of TESTS has increased daily. I mean the total number of people tested has grown. There are a greater number of people that get tested every day.
One statistic that is NOT being disseminated is the percentage of positive tests....In other words what percentage of the total number of people tested show a positive?
It would seem to me that this is a more reliable indicator of the spread of the disease. If last week the authorities tested, say, 20,000 people and (just a number) 2000 came back positive, then that would be a positive rate of 10%. If the week before they had tested 10,000 and 5000 came back positive, then that would have been a rate of 50%.
But we don't get that statistic. We get "Number of Positive Cases" which without the underlying data does not tell us anything. Unless we adjust for the total number of tests, we don't get any useful data.
Why is it that the media doesn't give us the whole story? Are they incompetent to understand the concept? Or is it just another attempt at fearmongering? Or is the data not disseminated to them by the medical authorities so they can continue to have a reason for the restrictions that they have placed upon the people and the damage to the economy?
I have found that, generally, when someone gives me incomplete statistics they are trying to hide something from me......
The number of TESTS has increased daily. I mean the total number of people tested has grown. There are a greater number of people that get tested every day.
One statistic that is NOT being disseminated is the percentage of positive tests....In other words what percentage of the total number of people tested show a positive?
It would seem to me that this is a more reliable indicator of the spread of the disease. If last week the authorities tested, say, 20,000 people and (just a number) 2000 came back positive, then that would be a positive rate of 10%. If the week before they had tested 10,000 and 5000 came back positive, then that would have been a rate of 50%.
But we don't get that statistic. We get "Number of Positive Cases" which without the underlying data does not tell us anything. Unless we adjust for the total number of tests, we don't get any useful data.
Why is it that the media doesn't give us the whole story? Are they incompetent to understand the concept? Or is it just another attempt at fearmongering? Or is the data not disseminated to them by the medical authorities so they can continue to have a reason for the restrictions that they have placed upon the people and the damage to the economy?
I have found that, generally, when someone gives me incomplete statistics they are trying to hide something from me......
Indeed; this is something I've been trying to get across to my over-the-moon Liberal mom. She keeps saying "But you're ignoring the SCIENCE!" when I tell her I'm "skeptical" about what I'm being fed by the MSM. Does a "positive" test show positive for antibodies or active infection? Is a "COVID-19 death" directly attributable to COVID, or did the person die of pre-existing conditions while having COVID? Seems we're being fed cherry-picked info, and that some of it is literally the comparison of apples and oranges.
ReplyDelete...All I know is that since all this began, I STILL don't know anyone who has had this thing. I work at a company with over 4000 employees. So far, ONE CASE... 1500 miles away from where I live and work... The best I can do is that I know two people who KNOW SOMEONE who has had it; hardly the "doomsday" scenario that's STILL being harped by the Clinton News Network...
"Science" has been wrong before. These days, the scientists tend to bend their findings toward the wishes of those who sign their paychecks... I'll stick with the REALITY right in front of me...