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Reopening the US safely during an ongoing pandemic will require plans informed by science. But many states are sidelining science to downplay health risks of reopening - this is extremely dangerous. Here is what we’ve seen so far (a thread).
Georgia posted a graph (now corrected) showing a decline in cases by misaligning dates. Such a manipulation of data is an integrity violation in the academic community – you’d be fired and never see a job in academia again. https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/05/19/18/28584104-8336989-image-a-2_1589908458740.jpg
The state also showed declining cases in another graph, but the lower numbers were due to a lag in data collection (this wasn’t made clear). Georgia also has misrepresented the number of deaths attributed to #COVID19. https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/just-cuckoo-state-latest-data-mishap-causes-critics-cry-foul/182PpUvUX9XEF8vO11NVGO/
In Florida, the state’s top data scientist was fired. She said it was for refusing to manipulate data to support the state’s reopening. Governor DeSantis dismissed her accusation, saying “she was tired and needed a break.” https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/20/859741245/florida-governor-defends-firing-of-top-data-scientist
Florida also also censored its own medical examiners and blocking them from releasing spreadsheets on the #COVID19 dead. They were later released, but with redacted cause of death entries. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/05/08/blocked-data-floridas-medical-examiners-expose-covid-19-failures-unredacted/3058832001/
Arizona initially restricted data access and put a “pause” on state #coronavirus modeling by university scientists. Arizona has since allowed the continuation of the work, which projects an increase in cases due to the state reopening. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2020/05/06/asu-continue-covid-19-modeling-despite-health-department-instructions/5180017002/
Testing data in states such as Pennsylvania (with one of the largest outbreaks of cases), Texas, Georgia, and Vermont are combining antibody test results with viral tests. The CDC was doing this too. This is problematic. https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html
Chief of staff to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, recently admitted that they combined antibody tests results with viral test results because it was the “only way to improve Virginia’s positions in a list of states ranked.” https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/covid-19-tests-combine-virginia/611620/
States are basing their decision to relax protections on testing capacity and case numbers. Combining this data both distorts testing capacity (shows false increase) and the number of cases (shows false decrease). https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/cdc-and-states-are-misreporting-covid-19-test-data-pennsylvania-georgia-texas/611935/
States don't have standardized methods to account for deaths attributed to #COVID19. Without standardization of methods, it will be difficult to determine when a state can safely reduce protections—or when it should increase them if an outbreak occurs. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/coronavirus-deaths/
When states sideline scientists and their work, they are gambling with people’s lives, especially those working at the front line. That is unacceptable. Urge your members of congress to protect frontline workers now. https://act.ucsusa.org/2LM8N6V
