Sunday was an EIGHT Green Arrow Day.
Testing, Testing and Testing
Yesterday was an EIGHT Green Arrow Day. Below are the particulars for the day.
Last week there were more tests performed than any other week on record, and the trend appears to be slightly accelerating (see graph below). For example, 7.5 million completed this past week compared to 5.8 million for the week ended September 20th, a 23.6% increase.
The more tests, the more likely we will end up tallying more cases. Keep in mind that not so long ago, the US could not test all that may have needed one, so we rationed testing to those that had more severe symptoms. The effect is that cases numbers were under-reported back then. Today we might have a better handle on how many do contract the virus. For instance, in the week ended June 28th, there were 4.1 million tests and 277,620 cases. Had we tested as many as we did last week and had a similar infection rate, there would have been more cases back then.
When there is a change in our testing protocols, a different bias is introduced and is difficult to assess. Today because we are testing more as a precautionary measure for healthcare workers, athletes, children in school, etc., we recognize more of those asymptomatic. Secondly, those testing positive are included in the statistics. However, what isn’t readily known is follow-up testing. An individual that tests positive one day and is tested many times after counts each time as another test and “new” case.
We experience frustration when headlines talk about case numbers daily when we understand they reflected when the patient test was finally tabulated and reported rather than when the infection happened. When in actuality, there is probably a five to seven-day lag. In other words, it was last week’s news.
When one looks at our tables, it is easy to see that tests get processed on predominately a five-day workweek schedule. Friday, our healthcare system completes the most test reporting, and thus Fridays seem always to have the highest number of cases.
Tests
The number of tests performed recently has jumped by more than 7.5 million per week.
Please click here for references. If you have not already registered, register now to receive the latest updates on the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.