More than half of states may be undercounting coronavirus cases by not following CDC guidelines

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

At least 28 states are not following US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on reporting new Covid-19 cases -- half of which saw the trend of new cases increasing in the last week.

Those states are not reporting probable cases, according to the daily case count listed on the CDC's website. Probable cases include those that show evidence of an infection without the confirmation of a lab test and cases where coronavirus was listed as a cause or contributing cause of death but are not confirmed with a lab test.

Some of the states with the largest populations -- like California, Florida, New York and Texas -- are among those listed as not reporting probable cases, despite CDC guidance that they should be included in the case count.

This comes as 26 states see an increased or steady rate of new cases. Accurate rates of new cases are among the metrics that help officials track how the disease is spreading in the US and make decisions about how to reopen and loosen restrictions put in place to mitigate its impact.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html

[beachbumbob]

1. down playing numbers been happening since day one and will get worse

[Pacifist Patriot]

2. We may never know true Florida numbers for a decade.

And it will be done by historical statistical methods when all the data can be compared against similar areas and control time periods for "best guess" ranges.

This state has been suppressing numbers from day one and will continue to do so with impunity.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Excess deaths are telling the toll but more accurate tallies of all death totals may have to wait.nt

[jaxexpat]

4. Re-opened places of business should make it their concern to follow up with their customers.

There will be lawsuits...….………. As gawd is mah witness.

[AllyCat]

5. Wonder what is happening in my state

Was tested over a week ago. Told results in 3-7 days. I have been waiting now for 11 days. What good is that data now? I have filled out the form to have results phoned to me and again to have them emailed. Crickets.

Talked to someone else in Dane Co who never heard from them either and once he got in touch with an actual person, found out he was POSITIVE!!

[CountAllVotes]

7. Was chatting w/someone from Wisconsin yesterday

She told me that she knew three people who had has this "nasty crap" and that they had been on lock-down for months and that they still came down with it!

I also heard of this happening with up to 65% of elderly people that were under lock-down in NY and they too contracted the virus and had not gone out either.

Giant

What in the hell are we up against?

Does anyone know?

[Steelrolled]

6. Perhaps bothersome but I don't see this as a big problem

As long as California, Florida, etc, are consistent in their criteria, we can see the trend. It is all relative.

[patphil]

8. That's been evident since early on.

I think every state is doing this to some degree, but there is a fairly large group who's numbers are just way off.
Utah and South Dakota are showing a death rate of around 1 percent...way low.
Tennessee, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, and Idaho are also way low.

In fact, any state reporting 3 percent or less is definitely way under what I believe the true death rate is...probably between 4 and 5 percent.
This is a serious disservice to the citizens of those states in particular, and the nation in general. By not giving the true picture, it looks a lot less deadly than it actually is.

The reason I would like the numbers to be truthfully reported is not to create fear, but to reinforce the need for caution. People should continue their adherence to social distancing and the use of masks and gloves.

Artificially low numbers of cases and deaths creates a false sense of security that will only kill more people.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. I just read an article that suggests that the only really valuable counts

from the standpoint of somewhat reliable virus impacts are the number of hospitalizations and the number of deaths. All other counts, it suggests, are unreliable.

I'm not sure about that and certainly the suggestion is extremely morbid.

[NickB79]

10. We'll end up calculating COVID deaths like we did Puerto Ricans

After Hurricane Maria, by statistical analysis.

And it will be brutal.

[TheFourthMind]

11. This is Trump controlling the numbers. Much like the BLS results re: unemployment. nt