News reports vs numbers

amother

Mon, Jul 20 2020, 10:06 pm

Does anyone else feel like the news media reports are furthering the hysteria about covid? There were a few articles in the past little while that when I fact checked them, their numbers contradicted the real factual numbers.

Am I desensitized to think that 500 people dying a day across the US is not an awful pandemic number? In NY we had 800+ a day for what felt like forever. That was just NY.

While there are many many new cases in the US every day, I'm having a hard time believing that we are in such bad shape as the media implies.
I've stopped reading these news updates for this reason, and just check the numbers, dry facts.

For example 1% of tests in NY state have been coming back positive. For that we have this prolonged shut down on certain businesses, schools, etc?

Something seems out of proportion to me.

helene

Mon, Jul 20 2020, 10:43 pm

There are no reliable numbers because there are no reliable test. Postive tests are upto 80% faulse and negative test are also faulty. I don't know how they get their numbers. But they are pretty much pulled out of thin air. Do they usually count everyone who has a sniffle?? Most people have such mild symptoms that they don't know they have covid19 and just carry on with live as normal. Masks and social distancing do not stop the virus. They just cause disharmony among the people and that is their purpose. They want to break up society. These are all means of tyranny and controlling the people. The virus is just spreading until we have herd immunity. And no government can control this. Even lockdowns do not stop the virus from spreading. Lockdowns just cause the total collapse of the economy.
They , these evil tyrants, want to give everyone a vaccine. But there will never be an effective vaccine against covid19. There are NO safe and effective vaccines against anything. And the way they are going about creating this new one there will never be one. Just make sure never to take any of these new vaccines.

SixOfWands

Mon, Jul 20 2020, 10:54 pm

helene wrote:

Please provide evidence of the following:

(1) Covid tests are 80% or more inaccurate as to positive results.

(2) The numbers of covid cases are "pulled out of thin air" -- ie, not based on test results and hospitalizations.

(3) Neither masks nor social distancing stop the spread of covid.

(4) Lockdowns have caused economic collapse in countries where the governments have stepped in with assistance to affected individuals.

(5) The US is in "total economic collapse."

(6) Covid is only as dangerous as the common cold to which you compare it.

amother

Mon, Jul 20 2020, 10:56 pm

Amarante wrote:

The numbers as reported by each state are available so you don't have to rely on the media. And they are just as bad as they appear - if not worse - since Florida is under-reporting Covid cases.

How can you inflate hospitalizations running at full capacity and interviews with doctors in various hot spots with filled ICU wards and not a bed available - or refrigerated trucks because morgues are full.

In the link above where I check the numbers, the numbers by state are adjusted if more info comes out or if they are found to be inaccurate for whatever reason.

I don't think it's possible for the numbers to be accurate though- as we know, sometimes they are inflated- people who die can be listed as a covid death even if it wasn't. Additionally, many people haven't been tested and may have had an asymptomatic or mild case.

The number of deaths per day is dropping sharply BH. There are a nice amount of successful treatments available at this point. I would like to see similar charts for other common illnesses, by state, to compare.

SixOfWands

Mon, Jul 20 2020, 11:12 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

We know that since February 1, there have been between 124,892 and 168,675 excess deaths in the US -- that is, more deaths than would be anticipated based in historical data.

The official death toll is about 143,000 covid-related deaths.

I know that politically, the right thinks that it will help them electorally if the try to convince us that we're not in the midst of a plague. But people are dead. Stop playing politics with people's lives.

southernbubby

Mon, Jul 20 2020, 11:33 pm

helene wrote:

Hey, I know! You run a funeral home and make money off of the spread of the virus!
I guess that you figure that it's like measles and everyone needs to catch it. Then they could end up like my poor cousin, may he rest in peace, who was a fit and healthy fellow but was no match for this virus. It's scary that there are people who believe as you do.
I would rather have government tyranny. It's much safer.

amother

Ivory

Mon, Jul 20 2020, 11:43 pm

southernbubby wrote:

From a 26 year-old professional athlete:

Quote:

Saturday around 10 a.m., I got chills so bad I couldn’t move without my whole body shaking. That night, my fever spiked so high that I sweated through my sheets. It left an imprint of my body. My fever broke Sunday morning and I actually felt a little better. But then three or four days later, I lost my sense of taste and smell for a few days. That was really annoying.

For a week, I was so tired. Low energy. Fatigue. Then I experienced shortness of breath for a week. I felt like I laid on the couch for three weeks without moving. I was tired just going up the stairs.

Professional athlete. How much worse for the average person.

amother

Blush

Tue, Jul 21 2020, 12:11 am

OP I have to agree with you. I live in Texas and I am constantly being asked by my relatives if we're all ok. According to the news they are making it sound like there are people sick and dying left and right.
Shul is open, camp is open, and bli ayin hara I can count on one hand how many people I know who had Covid. And not like how it sounds from things in NY, every single person here I've seen in a store is wearing a mask.
Do you know how many deaths are being reported a day in my city of almost 5 million people? There were 9 today. Yes, 9. And that has been about average for the past few weeks.
The hosiptilaztions are slowing down, the ICU usage is going down, no there are no refrigerated trucks parked anywhere. (I read an article how there was one tiny town in Texas that needed one, and the media ran with that and blew it completely out of proportion)
The more we test the more positives we're going to get. But that number doesn't tell an accurate story...

SixOfWands

Tue, Jul 21 2020, 4:46 am

amother [ Blush ] wrote:

1000 Texans died of covid in just 10 days, between July 10 and July 20. Actually probably more. Texas public health officials believe its an undercount.

Quote:

Over the last week [before July 20], COVID-19 has killed an average of 112 people each day in Texas — nearly three times more than two weeks ago. On July 6, the seven-day average was 36 deaths per day.

Quote:

The Houston region set a record Saturday [July 18] for the number of COVID-19 patients needing intensive care, hospital records show, though the total number of admitted patients declined for the third straight day.

Quote:

[July 17]Hey everyone! I posted this in response to a RationalAnarchy's daily COVID update, and a kind stranger suggested I made a new thread about it. I'm a nurse at St. David's south [Austin]. ICU bed are full. They have now made IMC an additional ICU floor, and are now doubling patients in IMC. 2 vented patients in one room. The PACU had to hold 2 ICU patients overnight because there were no beds and the morgue was full. Dead patients were taking up rooms. There is talk about turning the PACU into an additional ICU unit. Med surg covid floors are continuing to expand, and St. David's has now put together a master list of all employees to be redeployed to other units and even other St. David's locations. We've been told that FEMA is sending med surg nurses to assist starting next week, so we will see. Not. Good. I have 4 years ICU experience, however am currently in the surgery department for about a year (burned out) I floated there last week to help out the ICU and for the first time in my career I was scared. Not to be alarmist, just to tell you how serious it is. I'm a pretty chill/laid back person and this translates to my nursing care. I've never seen SO many people so so severely sick and there not being much we can do for them. And this while style of nursing being different. IV pumps are outside the doors ran with extension tubing so you don't have to gown up constantly to go in the room to change IV bags and tend to alarms. They're not re using n95s for weeks, which is good. It's 1 a shift. But gowns they try to be very conscious of, if one person is gowned up and your patient needs something, you ask them to go in your room instead to save you wasting a gown on yourself. It's just a different world. Just stuff I never thought I would see. Anywho, sorry for the long post. Just wanted to share some insight for people that find it helpful. Stay safe everybody!"

Quote:

A source familiar with the situation who reviewed the Reddit post confirmed to KVUE that the details depicted are accurate. Austin is pushing ahead with getting a refrigerated truck to town because “a lot of funeral homes are full,” according to the source. Bringing a refrigerated truck to the area is part of a more comprehensive plan, which includes the City’s Fatality Management Task Force, area hospitals and the Medical Examiner’s Office.

I hope that you continue not to know people who are sick or dying. But the fact that you don't does not represent reality.

ora_43

Tue, Jul 21 2020, 5:47 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

News reports further the hysteria about everything. "Adorable child dies of covid19" is a headline that's going to get a lot more clicks than, "Child gets covid19, gets a low-grade fever, recovers quickly."

Plus, they have to make the news sound, well, new. So "SHOCKING: young healthy athlete on ventilation after catching covid19!!!" will win out over "as we have known for several months now, a small percentage of young healthy people will have life-threatening complications with this illness."

But then, it's the same with car crashes, house fires, crime... "If it bleeds, it leads."

Quote:

Am I desensitized to think that 500 people dying a day across the US is not an awful pandemic number? In NY we had 800+ a day for what felt like forever. That was just NY.

Yes and no? Really, it depends on what your thought process is here. Are you thinking that 500/day isn't so bad relative to the severity of the illness, and that steps taken to counter the spread, and/or the summer weather, are clearly helping? If so, I agree.

OTOH, if you're thinking this means that covid19 isn't so serious, I think that would be a mistake. Like you said, in NYC alone there were hundreds of deaths a day - having "only" 500 deaths a day isn't a given.

I'd also keep in mind that there's a delay; deaths trail behind severe cases, which trail behind new cases. So some of the media concern is justified - we know from experience that, for example, since known cases of covid19 doubled in Texas in the past couple of weeks, deaths are probably going to double in the next couple of weeks. IOW the concern isn't necessarily over the current death rate so much as the anticipated death rate.

amother

Pearl

Tue, Jul 21 2020, 7:30 am

southernbubby wrote:

There are some very dangerous people peddling some very dangerous ideas because they belong to a RW cult.

You are constantly attacking people who you disagree with, calling them cult members and claiming they lack critical thinking abilities simply because you disagree with them. I dont know why you keep getting away with your attacks on imamother since attacks are not acceptable. Just because someone doesnt agree with you doesnt make their arguments any less valid.
This video shows that the left "woke" people and the right "racist" people are fundamentally the same. And both sides agree with their hatred against Jews, so not sure why you feel so comfortable being a leftist progressive liberal who constantly attacks Jews who disagree with you.

amother

Tue, Jul 21 2020, 8:09 am

ora_43 wrote:

Will deaths in Texas double over the next few weeks?
Looking at the numbers, across the US the death rate is dropping.
What if the death rate doesnt double in 2 weeks?

amother

Babyblue

Tue, Jul 21 2020, 8:50 am

amother [ Blush ] wrote:

SOW, thanks for all those news "tidbits". Not sure what they were trying to prove though. Nowhere in my post did I downplay the severity of the virus.
All I was doing was backing up the OPs post. The media is sensationalizing the situation, to get headlines, that's what I was agreeing with.
What we are dealing with nationally is nothing compared to what was going on in March and April. But watching the news you would not know that. I'm not making light of the situations in the hospitals or the deaths that we do have - obviously we don't want anyone to die!
But literally the headlines two weeks ago were screaming "Texas is the next New York". That's clearly not the case.

Seriously? Miami, Texas, California are all going through what NY went thru in April. Maybe there are less deaths now, because the doctors know how to treat the patients, but the hospitals and ICU units are all overwhelmed. Keep in mind that the long term effects for these hospitalized patients are approximately 50%. And keep in mind, that the deaths aren't synchronized with the onset of cases, they follow sometime later.

Today's media will always sensationalize everything, but that doesn't mean we should ignore the facts on the ground. There is the media version of an event and the true version of the event. But ever so often, the true version of the event can be more aligned with the media version than the one that's fits our narrative within our own personal bubble.

If the numbers continue to rise, will the next step be to start blaming the number of deaths on 'hospital neglect"?

amother

Tue, Jul 21 2020, 8:58 am

amother [ Blush ] wrote:

People are fearful enough without the media's hype. It's a shame that the news reports is contributing to mass anxiety. I don't buy into it, not because I dont think the disease is severe (my brother almost died of it) but because it's harmful to mental and emotional health.

There are also so many new treatments that seem to be successful for a majority of people. I saw a clip of a dr from Texas who successfully used an asthma nebulizer steroid treatment, 100% success on his patients who he treated all early in the virus and the disease disappeared, even in patients with cancer and other conditions that would have made them majorly at risk.