States Scale Back Pandemic Reporting, Stirring Alarm

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
NPR
@NPR
More than two dozen states have already started cutting back on reporting their data on COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

That has experts worried: Those states could be left in the dark about new outbreaks until it's too late.

States Scale Back Pandemic Reporting, Stirring Alarm
More than two dozen states have reduced how frequently they report what's happening with the pandemic in their states, raising alarm among some public health experts.
npr.org
11:42 AM · Jun 11, 2021

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/06/11/1004751742/states-scale-back-pandemic-reporting-stirring-alarm

As the pandemic calms in the U.S., a growing number of states have started scaling back how often they update their dashboards tracking what's happening with the virus.

The moves are sparking alarm among many public health experts.

"One of the most troubling trends recently has been that states are making the decision to either slow or wind down their reporting efforts," says Beth Blauer, who helps run the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University, a leading source of information about the pandemic.

"I think it's absolutely appropriate for us to celebrate the progress we've made, but we still are very much navigating a pandemic. We haven't gotten to the point where we can stake victory," Blauer says.

At least two dozen states that have stopped updating daily the number of people catching the virus, being hospitalized and dying, according to Johns Hopkins. Some stopped reporting anything over weekends. Others cut back to just a few times a week. Florida is the latest state to go to just once a week — Oklahoma is another one that has reduced to once a week reporting.

*snip*

[soothsayer]

1. Yeah this is not the time

[bahboo]

2. everyone wants it to be over.....

but it ain't over. Gotta keep our eyes on the ball....

[global1]

3. My Understanding Is That New Covid Deaths Are Of ....

primarily anti-vaxxers.

That should be reported. Might just be incentive enough to get anti-vaxxers to go get vaccinated.

[tanyev]

4. I noticed on a couple sites I check that they don't have numbers for my county

after May. And we were doing pretty well. What’s going on?