There's a helpful new article here on how deadly the novel coronavirus is and how to understand the various figures being quoted...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51979654
Hall Of Fame
There's a helpful new article here on how deadly the novel coronavirus is and how to understand the various figures being quoted...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51979654
Hall Of Fame
The media, well some, are trying to make an issue of the differences between Downing St's daily update and the ONS figures.Originally Posted by SwalePie
They seem not to understand why the different figures are currently needed and, hoping that I'm right, I'll try and clarify here.
The hospital figures that are given daily are precise and up-to-date. In the fast moving scenario where early decision have to be made the actual figure itself is not as important as the trend. The powers that be want to see if their policies are working or need modifying and therefore need figures that they trust the basis on which they are being made so that by say the end of this week we will have a good idea of whether this current downward trend is a statistical glitch or real.
The ONS figures lag. They show, as they have for years, all deaths registered with primary and secondary causes and thus Covid as a primary or secondary will then show up - but not all deaths have been tested for Covid whereas ALL hospital deaths HAVE been tested.
It would in my opinion be a mistake to try and change the basis of the current daily hospital deaths figures just as it would by switch from 2pts/win to 3pts/win mid-season. It would distort the picture.
In their efforts to be seen to be reasonable the people fielding the questions are going into too much depth and the above message is getting lost. Lots of people are dying, many people die anyway, but the hospital figure is the best we have for quick analysis without waiting for official registrations, post-mortems etc and the resulting delays and potentials for mis-analysis.
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