Yeah, but you're basically suggesting that mask mandate was the only factor effecting the results. This is not possible. It is one factor, but to what extent it drove results vs. a bajillion other things...who is to say?
Reporting glitch upends confidence as Florida adds 8,000 coronavirus cases https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/...idence-as-florida-adds-8000-coronavirus-cases Posted Aug 12, 2020 at 12:15 PM Updated at 7:36 AM Coronavirus updates: Florida reaches 550,901 cases with 8,898 deaths; Palm Beach County has 37,934 cases with 970 deaths. A confidence crisis that has plagued Florida’s COVID-19 reporting system deepened on Wednesday when state health officials said half of the roughly 8,000 new cases it tallied in its latest update were from tests that were taken as long as seven weeks ago. Blaming a Miami lab for dumping more than 4,000 positive tests in one day, the Florida Department of Health tweeted that Wednesday’s results were “skewed” particularly in Miami-Dade County. Some of the tests were taken as far back as June 23, it said. The acknowledgment of the glitch created a Twitter firestorm, with some people blasting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic and others questioning how any of the numbers released by the state could be trusted. It provided ammunition for those who believe the state is intentionally under-reporting the number of cases to keep the economy humming. Rebekah Jones, who created the state’s once lauded COVID-19 dashboard and then claimed she was fired when she refused to manipulate the data, was among those who weighed in on her former employer’s latest misstep. “I’m shocked, SHOCKED I SAY! Thousands of cases went missing during the weeks leading up to July 4?? And during the peak crisis??? SHOCKED! SHOCCKKKKKEEEEDDDDD!!!!!!!” Jones tweeted. In television interviews in late June, Jones claimed former colleagues told her they had been instructed to under-report the number of new cases so tourists wouldn’t be scared away from Florida during the long holiday weekend. But, the number of new cases exploded before the holiday, forcing officials in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties to close their beaches. South Florida officials and others throughout the state also passed laws, mandating the wearing of masks. Still, aside from Jones’ claims of data manipulation, the state in July acknowledged that some labs weren’t regularly reporting negative tests results, instead dumping them all at once. Also, some claim that the way the state reports test results is designed to paint a far rosier picture than actually exists. While it only reports one time when a person tests positive, it reports all the earlier times when the same person tests negative. Still, even some of DeSantis’ fellow Republicans were surprised by the lengthy delay that caused more than 4,000 test results to be reported in one day. “7 weeks!” tweeted U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida. With people questioning why test-takers were not told they had COVID-19 for as long as seven weeks, state health officials issued a follow-up tweet to clarify that people were informed. The problem was “a reporting issue,” it said, insisting that those who tested positive were notified. Further, they said, the problem had been resolved. In an address after 6 p.m. Wednesday, DeSantis said he had instructed the state health department to immediately fix the problem that allowed the reporting delay. “The point of collecting data should be to illuminate not obscure the actual facts on the ground,” he said. The glitch had a dramatic impact on Miami-Dade County. While the state’s most populous county has long been the state’s epicenter for the pandemic, in recent days the number of new cases it has tallied has dropped dramatically. It has averaged 1,400 a day for the past week down from an average of about 2,800 in much of July. On Wednesday, Miami-Dade reported 4,141 new cases. State health officials said 2,941 were from the the Niznik Lab. Florida still a hot spot However, even without the sampling surge, the state would still continue to be one of the nation’s hot spots for the coronavirus. In recent days, even when the number of new cases in Florida dropped to under 5,000, only California and Texas reported more. With the dumped tests, the number of positive cases increased by 8,109 on Wednesday. That brought the total number of people diagnosed in Florida to 550,901, the second highest of any state. State health officials said 36% of the cases statewide came from the Miami lab. Palm Beach County logged another 293 new cases, bringing its total to 37,934. The number of new cases reported on Wednesday is far lower than the 379 logged on average each day for the last week. But deaths continued to soar. An additional 213 fatalities, including 14 in Palm Beach County, were tallied. That is less than the record-setting 277 fatalities reported on Tuesday. But it is still far above the average of 174 deaths reported daily over the past two weeks. It is only the seventh time since the pandemic began in March that more than 200 deaths were reported on a single day. All of those record-breaking days have come since July 29. The state’s death toll now stands at 8,898, including 970 county residents. Those reported dead in the county on Wednesday included a 52-year man and three others in their 60s. All of the others were older than 75. Since there is a lag in reporting deaths, it is unlikely they occurred within the last 24 hours. The state reported nine deaths Wednesday in Palm Beach County long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes. A dip in Palm Beach County However, as deaths continue to mount, there were some encouraging signs. The county tallied an additional 293 cases, far less than the average of 412 new diagnoses it has notched each day during the past two weeks. There are now 37,934 people in the county diagnosed with the highly contagious respiratory disease. Perhaps more importantly, the percentage of people testing positive for the disease in the county dropped to 6.1%, the lowest level since June 10. The positivity rate shows the prevalence of the virus in the community. It marked the seventh day in a row that the rate has stayed below 10%, the optimum threshold set by state officials. However, Palm Beach County Health Director Dr. Alina Alonso said the rate must remain below 5% for meaningful steps to be taken to contain the spread of the virus. She told county commissioners on Tuesday she would not recommend the county move into Phase 2 until the positivity rate consistently stays below 5%. Phase 2 would allow standalone bars, movie theaters, bowling alleys and other entertainment venues to reopen and give other businesses the ability to serve more customers. Statewide, the positivity rate remained above the 10% threshold. The daily rate climbed to 11.89% on Wednesday. Without the glitch, state officials said it would have dropped to 9.4%. Hospitalizations also continued to drop. Roughly 6,600 people were hospitalized statewide for treatment of COVID-19 on Wednesday morning, down from nearly 9,600 three weeks ago, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. Palm Beach County has had similar declines. About 430 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday morning, compared to more than 600 in mid- and late-July. The numbers change throughout the day as people are admitted and discharged.
Deaths don't "continue to mount". Well, they do if you examine the death by reported date. But this 7 weeks old data crap...totally ridiculous. This is why all of these numbers are useless in setting policy.
Numbers in states that do data poorly, don't have the data reviewed by experts at universities, and have significant data transparency questions --- are useless in setting policy. Data is states that do data well --- is very useful for setting policy based on science and best public medical policy practices.
Of course, you've no clue about that either. There have been no less than 53 studies showing HCQ benefit.
"DeSantis for the win" Florida's GOP governor compares reopening schools to the raid that killed bin Laden https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-governor-ron-desantis-opening-schools-raid-bin-laden-2020-8 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday compared the complex challenges of reopening schools amid a pandemic to the US military raid that killed Osama bin Laden. DeSantis, a Republican and strong supporter of President Donald Trump, said: "Just as the SEALs surmounted obstacles to bring Osama bin Laden to justice, so too would the Martin County School system find a way to provide parents with a meaningful choice of in-person instruction or continued distance learning." Across the US, schools that have reopened have seen COVID-19 outbreaks. (more at the above url)