Fiddling with the numbers confuses COVID statistics

Statistics can prove anything someone wants to prove. That appears to be the case with the Coronavirus counts.  Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is quick to admit are not accurate. As a matter of fact, they could be off as much as 60 per cent.

Hospitalization numbers soared when her office began adding more people into the way they are counted. People who are admitted to hospital for totally unrelated issues, and showing no symptoms, are tested for COVID as well, and if they test positive they are added to the count. In other words, they were listed as COVID hospitalizations, thus inflating the figures.

It’s a twist of phrase, much like the daily COVID death counts. Many were listed as COVID deaths when in fact, the virus was just one factor leading to the death.

When statistics lose credibility people don’t trust them any more they become useless, and in fact, can become dangerous.