Here& #39;s a prime example of misinformation & omission of context in COVID media coverage:

Today, @12News in AZ pushes a story that "These 4 graphs show Arizona is losing the fight against COVID-19"

A thread of the graphs and context:

(1)
GRAPH #1: "100% increase in the 7-day average number of cases since October 1st"

CONTEXT: Yes. But cases are down est. 500% from the peak in July, despite new inclusion of antigen tests from the universities starting mid-Sept. Also, "cases" don& #39;t = illness/transmissibility.

(3)
CLAIM #2: "42% increase in number of inpatient beds in use" by COVID patients since 10/1

CONTEXT: Yes, after a >300% drop in inpatients w/ COVID since peak in July. Also, only 10% of inpatients have COVID & that includes cases found incidentally through testing all admits

(4)
GRAPH #3: "37% increase in ICU beds in use" by COVID patients

CONTEXT: Yes, also ICU bed usage by COVID patients is down roughly 350% since the peak in July and, again, only 10% of available ICU beds are in use by patients with COVID.

(5)
GRAPH #4: "12% increase in ventilators in use."

CONTEXT: While there are 468 vents (22%) in use in AZ for all causes, only 91 (5%) of them are in use for people with COVID (see second graph).

(6)
They also attribute--without evidence--that all of these "increases" are the result of "preventative measures being relaxed across the state", despite Florida being relaxed for weeks and seeing no increase.

(7) https://twitter.com/jhaskinscabrera/status/1317217532382773254?s=20">https://twitter.com/jhaskinsc...
They also allude to an impending catastrophe if schools begin to open, despite that fear being repeatedly debunked as well.

(8) https://twitter.com/AJKayWriter/status/1318914207069347848?s=20">https://twitter.com/AJKayWrit...
Yay!!! Why isn& #39;t that the lead???

It should make anyone pause and say, "If COVID is not nearly as deadly as once believed, how do these restrictions make sense?"

They don& #39;t.

Or, they only make sense to an panicked, misinformed population in a high-stakes election year.

(10)
Reality: Cases will ebb and flow, likely with some seasonality, like all endemic viruses.

We must not allow our world to be held hostage by media click-bait every time there in a slight uptick in cases of an endemic, likely-to-be-seasonal virus.

(11)
This article is selling more self-inflicted, unnecessary, & disproportionately distributed harm, reframed for the unquestioning masses as "saving lives".

Think about it.

(The End)

***source for slide 3: https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/positive-antigen-test-result-reporting-behind-massive-spike-in-new-arizona-cases">https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/posi...
(And the point of the thread survives my backward-facing, rushed, trying-to-homeschool-and-tweet reverse percentage drop calcs. Should be multiples, or even absolutes, not percent, but I’m okay w/ it. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😉" title="Zwinkerndes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Zwinkerndes Gesicht">)
FOLLOW UP: "Losing the battle" makes so much more sense now. https://twitter.com/AJKayWriter/status/1319142779172253696?s=20">https://twitter.com/AJKayWrit...
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