Well, yesterday was bad, but not quite as bad as I feared. Daily fatalities topped 1,300, but total daily cases were below 60,000. Horrific numbers to be sure, but slightly less horrific that I thought they would be.
A personal note: Sis tested negative and Mom’s oxygen number has stayed up, so, we are in better shape than we were last week. Just a few more days until the “all clear”.
Where do the numbers come from? I admit I haven’t been following very closely but I was under the impression the administration had taken reporting responsibilities away from the CDC and information was missing, and so on.
I use the numbers from WorldOMeters:
You are not wrong to be skeptical of recent U.S. data. There was a data problem with R.I. and there may be more. I don’t believe the data is manipulated, but I cannot be sure.
I can’t speak to other places, but I’ve been paying attention to discrepancies between the Bexar County case numbers and the state-wide case numbers. At least part of those discrepancies come from Bexar county reporting the total number of “confirmed” + “probable” cases. The state numbers, though, strip out the “probables.”
If you have COVID-19 symptoms and go get a quick-result antigen test (a less invasive mouth/nose swab), and it comes back positive, you’re still only treated as a “probable” case. Texas reports the case as “confirmed” only if you get the PCR test, which takes longer to get results and is the one with the monster-sized nasal swabs that tickle the bottom of your brain.
I’m sure the decision to count only “confirmed” and not “probable” cases had no political component to it whatsoever. 
I can’t tell where Worldometers is pulling its data from, but its “total cases” shown for Texas is higher than Texas’s own COVID-19 dashboard, so Worldometers might be including “probables.”
Worldometers links its sources (scroll to the right on their pages), but it’s an ad hoc collection. I believe most news outlets cite the Johns Hopkins numbers.
Trump uses brightly-colored crayons to draw the random shapes that pop into his very good brain, and then posts them on the Oval Office wall using half-chewed gummy bears.
Worldometers pulls its data for Texas from the numbers reported on each county’s public health website. They also provide a separate link to the state’s public health website.
I consider worldometers be a more accurate representation of the total case count because they are simply adding the numbers from the individual counties‘ websites, but I also check the COVID Tracking Project because they include the total number of cases reported by the state along with the total number of tests, so I can get an idea of the daily positive test rate.
Which is climbing in Texas. “Texas’ positive COVID-19 test rate saw a sharp increase Wednesday, from 13.88 percent to 15.58 percent, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data.”
Unless lines for testing have gone down, those numbers are much larger. A lot of people won’t wait in line to be tested.
According to the NY Times, Texas is testing at only 30% of its testing target, and the rate of testing is falling.
I personally know one person that left the line and I know myself. I’m not waiting in line.
UH opens up in a week or so (I can’t figure out what the actual date is) and we don’t have testing on campus. Dorms are going to be interesting here and other campuses. I’m going to avoid students like a virus.
I tried to get tested a couple of weeks ago. Called around to the clinics listed for testing by appointment, and could not get one of them to call me back. I gave up and the worrying symptoms went away a day or two later. Either it was a false alarm, or I was/am asymptomatic. I’ll probably never know, which is fucking insane.
Harris Co. has added “surge” testing. You can sign up at the link; results take 3-5 days, which is still nearly useless.
So many things about this pandemic trigger memories of “Alien”; specifically in this case, this exchange:
Ripley: Well…it looks like a warning. I’m gonna go out after them.
Ash: What’s the point? I mean, by the time it takes to get there, they’ll know if it’s a warning or not, yes?
Yeah, that’s not good news at all. When I checked yesterday, the website didn’t have the number of tests and cases posted yet. On Tuesday, the positive test rate was 18.3% (9,167 new cases / 50, 262 tests)
Edit: I just checked the website and yesterday was awful. 8,706 new cases / 23,387 tests. A 37.22% positive test rate.
Hey, you don’t know me, but I’ve read your posts for years and years. Get tested if you need to get tested.
I’m a high school teacher. No avoiding kids for me.
Loganck and BudGirl, thank you both for teaching our kids & grand kids!
They need you. They - and their parents - need to return to something normal. The kids need a break from the boredom of electronics and not to lose all this learning time. They need some adult besides their parents to interact with them, to care about helping them learn - be better prepared for life.
Their parents need you to enable them to provide for their family.
COVID-19 is showing us is that teachers are every bit as essential as medical professionals and 1st responders.
Thank you for showing up. Praying for you. Keep us updated.
Snuffy
Putting kids back into enclosed classrooms now, for any reason, is foolish irresponsibility.
The people pushing this idea are doing so from the relative-safety their heavily-tested bubbles or their basement studios. If you can’t have in-person conventions or in-person TV studios, you can’t have in-person schools.
My 3 year old was coughing and so we wanted to get him tested. No problem, except our pediatrician won’t do it, and the urgent cares are saying 7-14 days for results.
We’re six months in, and this is still a thing. It’s crazy.
WTF?
#1 and most importantly, I am not a teacher. I work at a university.
#2 Parents should enable their kids to provide for their family. Teachers teach skills. But, I think that is really what you meant.
And Logan, I would get tested, I’m just going to whine the whole time I have to wait or go to some random location that has no line.