I’ve long maintained that an important component of getting “back to normal” with COVID is simply not to pay any attention to it. Stop the daily COVID tracking, ignore the numbers, take away the ability of the press to make a story out of COVID based on whatever happened in the last week.
Thank you so much for your work on this. I've viewed these charts and reports as a source of sanity and perspective that seemed not merely lacking, but actively avoided by the media.
An Oregon newspaper this week published a story that while most states have adjusted how they count COVID deaths, Oregon still uses the most expansive definition possible and doesn't go back to correct apparent overcounts, even now in March 2022.
It's interesting how Oregon has managed a relatively low number of deaths, despite likely overcounting compared to other states. It all points to how complex this data is - that states aren't necessarily using the same metrics now as they did two years ago, or that their neighbors use. Standardized reporting for states is probably a pipe dream, but PoliMath's posts have still been the closest I've seen anybody come.
On a side note, I've wondered for two years why nobody has proposed methodical randomized testing. How would that change the data? I know nobody can answer that...but I wonder if it would have helped us understand things any better.
Where's this month's Disney cartoon?
I was so tired from putting this post together that I couldn't scrape up the energy for it & it was making my already-late post even later so I punted
Thank you so much for your work on this. I've viewed these charts and reports as a source of sanity and perspective that seemed not merely lacking, but actively avoided by the media.
An Oregon newspaper this week published a story that while most states have adjusted how they count COVID deaths, Oregon still uses the most expansive definition possible and doesn't go back to correct apparent overcounts, even now in March 2022.
"The Statesman Journal found that Oregon is using significantly broader standards than many other states to decide who counts as a COVID-19 death. And nearly every state in the nation seems to be counting deaths using different criteria." Subscription may be required: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2022/03/20/girls-death-raises-questions-about-how-oregon-defines-covid-19-deaths/6900570001/
It's interesting how Oregon has managed a relatively low number of deaths, despite likely overcounting compared to other states. It all points to how complex this data is - that states aren't necessarily using the same metrics now as they did two years ago, or that their neighbors use. Standardized reporting for states is probably a pipe dream, but PoliMath's posts have still been the closest I've seen anybody come.
On a side note, I've wondered for two years why nobody has proposed methodical randomized testing. How would that change the data? I know nobody can answer that...but I wonder if it would have helped us understand things any better.
Thank you very much for the work you have done on this over the last 2 years. It has really been a haven of sanity in a crazy world.