From 10 Tampa Bay:
TAMPA, Fla. — Since reopening, Florida has seen a rise in coronavirus cases.
On Saturday, June 6, the Florida Department of Health reported a fifth straight day of more than 1,000 new cases.
As of Monday, June 8, the Florida Department of Health was reporting almost 64,000 total positive cases and 2,700 deaths.The spike in cases could be linked to an increase in testing. The state reported that of the more than 57,000 tests on Saturday almost 1,200 came back positive– that’s about two percent. Overall, the state says 5.3-percent of all tests have come back positive.
Florida sees five straight days of 1,000+ new coronavirus cases
Let’s go over that again:
The spike in cases could be linked to an increase in testing
Well yes, that would be pretty much it. the locations where a person can get tested have been expanding from the initial few outside hospitals to basically any test lab where you go to take your regular check up tests. And if that was not all, CVS Pharmacies are also doing tests nationwide and offer a store locator to help you find the nearest one; I have 5 locations within 10 miles of my house. Antibodies testing has also been available for over a month in Florida with more and more locations offering it like Dolphin Stadium down here in Miami Dade County.
I do find funny that the true measure of how are we doing with the Wuhan virus is seldom mentioned and only in passing: Daily Deaths. Why?
The answer is obvious, isn’t? Compare what this graphic indicates to the one a top of the post, which one sell panic best?
So why the campaign of lies, half-truths and fear? The November elections. Anything that makes Governor DeSantis look bad, is mandatory to publish whether true or not. A popular governor means Florida will remain red or even get redder and will likely vote for Trump and the state is a mayor player in the Electoral College count.
Hat Tip Roger C.
But if you are positive for the Wuhan Virus, YOU’RE GOING TO DIE (eventually)! Of course if you never get the Wu-V you’re also going to die (eventually). To Paraphrase Mark Twain, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Also, the glaring statistical anomaly:
Part 1: The state reported that of the more than 57,000 tests on Saturday almost 1,200 came back positive– that’s about two percent.
Part 2: Overall, the state says 5.3-percent of all tests have come back positive.
So even though they’re testing more, the rate of positive tests is cut by more than half.
It’s the rate you need to look at. Just like with using murders to assess how “safe” a state or country is, the number is less relevant than the population-adjusted rate (number / 100,000). That’s the apples-to-apples comparison.
So, the numbers show Florida’s COVID positive-test rate has dropped dramatically and the death rate continues to decline. This should be good news.
But no, there’s a Republican in charge there, so they need to focus on the scary-but-entirely-meaningless part.
Nope. No bias there at all! [/sarcasm]
As an afterthought: Since reopening, Florida has seen a rise in coronavirus cases.
Of course it has. There is no test result that would reduce the number of positives. Even if the new case load dropped to zero, the number of positive tests would remain.
But with Wuhan coronavirus in the wild, “zero new cases” is unrealistic. So the number will go up as long as we keep testing.
Thus, the observation quoted is irrelevant.
The relevant question is, “Has Florida seen more of a rise in coronavirus cases since re-opening than they would have if they remained locked down?”
Given my previous comment about the dramatically-reduced rate, I would find that hard to believe. But again, asking the relevant question doesn’t win at the “Hurt the Republican” game, so….
Here on the other (aka Northern, Eastern, and Western most) end of the country we are still getting more cases due to more testing but we aren’t even having more hospitalizations. Don’t remember when the last death was, it’s been several weeks.
The news relies on eyeballs on screens to make a living, so they have to hype it up as much as they can. I don’t really have a problem with that.
What I have a real problem with is the idiots that cannot read anything more then the headlines, yet are convinced they know what is going on. The problem is as much the population as it is the media. Worst of all are the politicians that set policy based on the headlines, without even caring about the actual data.
However, saying that, I do think the media can tone it the F down a bit. While there is a reason to attract eyeballs to your site, instead of letting your competitor get the views, you do not have to be dicks stoking fear and panic.