My last post was focused on the truth. Today it is worth looking at how the “truth” is applied with regards to Covid-19 reporting in just one state, Ohio. The state has a dashboard that can be found here: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards/overview and a main coronavirus page that can be found here: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home. On the dashboard it is quite clear that the number of daily cases increased considerably in the fall and peaked in mid- to late November at which point the gradual decrease began. Hospitalizations and deaths rose quickly as well, however, both of those curves lagged behind the case counts. The most interesting observation actually comes from the main Coronavirus page where the headline numbers can be found.
The first row lists confirmed cases, CDC expanded definition cases (probables), and total cases. It is here that the “truth” seems to be a little less than apparent. Over the past few weeks the number of “probable” cases has increased considerably, now representing nearly 12 % of the total cases, not just reported daily, but total. It wasn’t that long ago that the probable cases were less than 10 % (likely much lower) of the total cases. Unfortunately, there is no corresponding curve for probable cases on the dashboard, so one can’t readily find what that percentage was before the fall wave hit. How, after nearly 12 months of this adventure, is it not possible to get a probable case tested? When total case counts are one of the criteria utilized to make important public health decisions it is almost laughable that, this far along, there are any probable cases reported, much less used for decision purposes such as the looming decision on a 10:00 pm curfew. It is probably safe to say that we can all “handle the truth!”
