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Daily #COVID19 case reports in Oklahoma, a thread:
I try to tweet out the daily updates every day, but the daily cases are not like a box score. They don’t reflect *everything* that happened during a defined period of time.
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I try to tweet out the daily updates every day, but the daily cases are not like a box score. They don’t reflect *everything* that happened during a defined period of time.
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In Oklahoma’s case, you’ve got multiple labs entering rapid test results and PCR (nasal/throat swab) test results every weekday, and some on weekends. Those cases get screened for duplicates and other issues. That takes trained people. It’s not all automated.
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For the past several months, @HealthyOklahoma has been transitioning to a new case reporting system because the old one, PHIDDO, is unable to handle the volume related to #COVID19. We heard today PHIDDO limits the number of active users that can update data. That’s a problem.
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Some labs have been having issues with their ELR, or electronic lab reporting, into the new system. Others are still sending by fax. Those things cause delays on daily case reporting. On any given day, positive test results are reported from up to 2 weeks ago.
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Things happen from time to time. It happened back in July with a big backlog getting reported. It’s happened sporadically since then. And then on Saturday, there was a huge number of daily case reports.
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Some were duplicates, but most were reported cases from the last few days or weeks, which indicates significant community spread going on. Active cases, which takes all positive cases not deceased or recovered in the last 14 days, are growing fast. Sadly, so are deaths.
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. @HealthyOklahoma said today they’re going to put a one-day delay on the daily case reports so they can ensure there are no duplicates or lab reporting issues when they issue updates.
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The daily case reporting is “the best available” that’s out there and is important to track to calculate the more important 7-day moving average of new cases. But the daily case number is not the only metric to follow in the pandemic.
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Personally, I pay most attention to active cases, the 7-day moving average of new cases, per-capita active case numbers, deaths and hospitalizations. Right now, those trend lines are all rising.
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