Drop the daily numbers. Make it weekly instead.

Chivito550

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/covid-19-doctors-call-for-utterly-meaningless-daily-figures-to-be-dropped-1.4346550

Uncle Pierre

I agree 100%.

Happened to hear Ciara Kelly on Newstalk about this yesterday too. She made a lot of sense.

Jim_Hodge

Can't disagree with that. Weekly would do just fine at this stage.

Oranage2

Probably enough interest in the misery porn, people watching Rte to get their daily dose is good for the station's ratings

I think it would be good to not report them as top news every evening on RTE and virgin.

But they should still be available somewhere for people who wish to see them and collect the data etc.

I can look at the numbers every day without freaking out. A lot of people can't.

facehugger99

Provides the Covid bed-wetters with a daily opportunity to whip themselves into hysterics.

Should be canceled immediately - it's outrageous it's been allowed to persist for so many months.

Gerry Hatrick

Uncle Pierre wrote: »

I agree 100%.

Happened to hear Ciara Kelly on Newstalk about this yesterday too. She made a lot of sense.

I suppose there's a first time for everything.

Gerry Hatrick

Really think the daily numbers are keeping us well informed of the virus and it's course.

Keep up the good work imo.

kirving

Gerry Hatrick wrote: »

Really think the daily numbers are keeping us well informed of the virus and it's course.

It's not helpful information at this point as it fluctuates too much day to day.

It's effectively oversampling the data.

Met Eireann don't report sunshine times every minute, because that could be influenced by a cloud going over the sensor and doesn't help us in working out that Wexford is sunnier than Donegal.

We look at things like that over a long period of time to average out the noise.

Deeper Blue

Gerry Hatrick wrote: »

Really think the daily numbers are keeping us well informed of the virus and it's course.

Keep up the good work imo.

Weekly numbers would do a better job of that as it would provide meaningful trends

lawred2

Chivito550 wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/covid-19-doctors-call-for-utterly-meaningless-daily-figures-to-be-dropped-1.4346550

And can we get a little bit of context to whom has contracted it and as to their condition/level of symptoms..

And can we get a bit of detail about medical history for those passing away?

Fr_Dougal

Do them right before the Lotto numbers.

They should do a daily tally of how much this is costing the taxpayer alongside the COVID numbers and how many people in total are dying from preventable illnesses that are being missed because of "telemedicine" and the impossibility of getting tests done or "routine" GP appointments.

PCros

Totally agree with this.

However would it look bad if we ran with 500/600 cases in one day. I could see the likes of the Daily Mail and other international rags running with "Ireland Hit with 600 New Cases" as a headline...and then actual explanation buried in the article.

Possibly bad PR for Ireland.

MrStuffins

facehugger99 wrote: »

Provides the Covid bed-wetters with a daily opportunity to whip themselves into hysterics.

Should be canceled immediately - it's outrageous it's been allowed to persist for so many months.

Is it really?

MrStuffins

Keep the daily numbers coming.

Those who want weekly numbers can check them weekly.

Grand!

duffman13

Release the figures daily but have a weekly update! Its a feckin joke and actually causing confusion. Once a week on a Monday. The figures are readily available just release them daily with no bloody commentary.

MrStuffins

Deleted User wrote: »

They should do a daily tally of how much this is costing the taxpayer alongside the COVID numbers and how many people in total are dying from preventable illnesses that are being missed because of "telemedicine" and the impossibility of getting tests done or "routine" GP appointments.

Nah!

ShyMets

I prefer a weekly press conference and weekly figures released.

HSE to still publish daily figures on website, if people want to check them they can

bikeman1

I have been looking for this since June when we had the low numbers.

The daily announcements are a source of anxiety for very many people who try to become epidemiologists each day and “understand “ a useless piece of information.

The numbers are all over the place and the secret deaths that get added and then de-notified serve no benefit.

Hospital admissions and a weekly press conference on a Monday or Tuesday for the 7 days to Sunday is sufficient. If public health deem an area or school should close, that is dealt with locally.

Time to open up and live with this like another disease that we have to manage in our lives. The doom merchants might not be happy with this approach though.

vid36

Every other country releases daily figures. Some don't at weekends but not releasing figures looks like we are trying to hide something .

Xterminator

Sure it will go away by itself, and the only reason the numbers are rising is because we are testing so many people. /S
Oh and big pharma are delaying the release of a vaccine, and wash your mouth with bleach and hydroxychloroquine!

hmmm

7 and 14 day moving average, released daily

The problem is that so many people just don't understand basic maths, so explaining what a "moving average" is could be difficult.

hmmm

hmmm wrote: »

7 and 14 day moving average, released daily

The problem is that so many people just don't understand basic maths, so explaining what a "moving average" is could be difficult.

:rolleyes:

Harry Palmr

Rolling average is your only man and yes the public consists mainly of idiots (this forums is proof enough of that) so it would take some talk loud and slow for a while before it's understood (and the rationale behind its use)

MadYaker

Can you not just ignore it no? I honestly couldn’t tell you how many cases were announced any day this week.

meeeeh

vid36 wrote: »

Every other country releases daily figures. Some don't at weekends but not releasing figures looks like we are trying to hide something .

First thought I had when hearing this was that they would be straight away accused of cover up. I think it's nonsense and they could easily report just weekly numbers but the usual overreaction would happen.

That being said I like seeing the daily numbers. It's more curiosity and lack of patience than any panic. The worries I would have are around lockdowns and business and I don't think that will happen any time soon.

Quantum Erasure

hmmm wrote: »

7 and 14 day moving average, released daily

The problem is that so many people just don't understand basic maths, so explaining what a "moving average" is could be difficult.

Don't be mean....

Diarmuid

MadYaker wrote: »

Can you not just ignore it no? I honestly couldn’t tell you how many cases were announced any day this week.

The point is that a large percentage of the public can't help themselves and as a result have driven their anxiety levels through the roof

mirrorwall14

The issue is not with the numbers. The issue is the media frenzy

Publish the numbers on the HSE website but ban the media from reporting on them. Do one weekly press conference and they can report then.

Wanderer78

mirrorwall14 wrote:

Publish the numbers on the HSE website but ban the media from reporting on them. Do one weekly press conference and they can report then.

Ban the media, sounds interesting!

People don't have to listen to the daily reports if they don't want to, weekly may dilute the seriousness of the situation

mvl

I think some ppl like statistics/maths others don't.

Not wanting to avail of these stats with accuracy can only put you in the other category than me ... I do think the officials should do their jobs reporting on this daily on whatever medias, and individuals can check the stats as frequent as their anxiety allows them.

- don't watch as much TV, or go see someone otherwise if you have a problem with that !!!

bush

Put the numbers in the app if you want to look at them

Wanderer78

bush wrote: »

Put the numbers in the app if you want to look at them

what if you dont use your phone much, dont have a smart phone, or dont have the app installed?

bush

Wanderer78 wrote: »

what if you dont use your phone much, dont have a smart phone, or dont have the app installed?

You could say the same for them being on tv

Wanderer78

bush wrote: »

You could say the same for them being on tv

tv is a more traditional method of communication, it can be far more informative than interacting with a phone, sometimes

bush

Wanderer78 wrote: »

tv is a more traditional method of communication, it can be far more informative than interacting with a phone, sometimes

People look at their phones a million times a day plus it would encourage using the app

Wanderer78

bush wrote: »

People look at their phones a million times a day plus it would encourage using the app

true, but some people prefer visual and audio based methods of communication, i suspect many older generations do, i personally do myself, as its a better method for me to learn

whisky_galore

“self-perpetuating cycle of misery”

Durr, what do you expect? It's a pandemic, not a lawn party.
If you don't want to know the figures, don't go watching the news. Shıtty things happen every single day in the news.

Polar101

There are lots of news available on TV/Radio/internet, or wherever. Some of it is bad, some of it is good. The idea that is should somehow be "portioned" so people won't feel sad is strange - if news makes you unhappy, do not watch them.

I feel some people just want to be outraged - nowadays half of the daily Covid thread is filled with "Stephen Donnelly is an idiot" or "this press conference is a joke" or "RTE bring nothing but misery". Yet those people will watch every piece of content. Why? Is someone forcing them to?

Like it was posted earlier, if you want weekly numbers, why not just check them every week?

igCorcaigh

I think I disagree.

Hiding information during an event like this doesn't seem right?

I do see a lack of clarification though. The system is opaque, and journalists are not asking the right questions.

I asked one of the reporters on twitter to press for an explanation on the backlog, but got no reply.

MadYaker

Diarmuid wrote: »

The point is that a large percentage of the public can't help themselves and as a result have driven their anxiety levels through the roof

Well then they're idiots and there's no helping them. If there's one thing I've learned from this pandemic it's that most people are idiots.

freshpopcorn

I sort of feel personally that the daily numbers sort of keep people focused and if it was only reported once a week some may become complacent.

Gods Gift

2 most important things on the telly.
1 the angelus.
2 the covid briefings.

alentejo

On one hand they are suggesting that the daily numbers are dropped for a weekly report. On the other hand they are specifically asking Dubliners to limit contacts this weekend. Can't have it both ways

Absolutely no way should this be allowed to happen.

Can’t believe people would actually want less information and only get weekly numbers. Madness, we need to know daily numbers and they need to be broken down more detailed geographically also imo. None of this nonsense of x cases in a list of about 10 counties. Every county should get a number and it should be done daily.

I want to hear accurate numbers everyday, with analysis and breakdowns by county etc. If you don’t want to know don’t listen for the news most of us actually want to know exactly what’s happening in as close to real time as possible.

Van.Bosch

igCorcaigh wrote: »

I think I disagree.

Hiding information during an event like this doesn't seem right?

I do see a lack of clarification though. The system is opaque, and journalists are not asking the right questions.

I asked one of the reporters on twitter to press for an explanation on the backlog, but got no reply.

Well said - data should always be released in a timely manner which they think they are doing. People on here can see the backlogs and identify the “catchup days” - that needs to be explained.

I don’t think there is any agenda/malice to it, but would love to know the rationale.

whisky_galore

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Well said - data should always be released in a timely manner which they think they are doing. People on here can see the backlogs and identify the “catchup days” - that needs to be explained.

I don’t think there is any agenda/malice to it, but would love to know the rationale.

Typical 'ah shur god luv dem' stuff.
In short, the public are quite stupid.

They can't budget, can't eat properly, can't cook for themselves, buy a dog for Xmas despite everyone telling them not to, etc now they're freaking out (allegedly) and can't bring themselves to turn off the tv, radio or put down the phone.
We've raised these helpless people so the only option is everyone else has to be put back a few classes down to their infantile level.

ShyMets

Abel Gigantic Shotgun wrote: »

Absolutely no way should this be allowed to happen.

Can’t believe people would actually want less information and only get weekly numbers. Madness, we need to know daily numbers and they need to be broken down more detailed geographically also imo. None of this nonsense of x cases in a list of about 10 counties. Every county should get a number and it should be done daily.

I want to hear accurate numbers everyday, with analysis and breakdowns by county etc. If you don’t want to know don’t listen for the news most of us actually want to know exactly what’s happening in as close to real time as possible.

I think the suggestion is that daily figures would still be published on the HSE website and be available for anyone who wishes to view them.

The press conference would become weekly and figures for that week would be released and discussed

Murple

A lot can happen in a week. Cases could rocket from 25-30 nationwide to 400-500 in the space of a week. Within that week, people would be thinking sure there’s very few cases, time to relax leading to the following weeks cases being in 4 figures. There would be the attitude of it can’t be that serious anymore, it’s not even in the headlines, you don’t hear anything about it these days.

Just because some are getting bored with it all doesn’t mean it should disappear, especially not when we are heading in to the time of year they have been warning of since this began. Last March and April there were many warnings about needing to get it under control before we reached winter and flu season. We were told about needing to delay the peak until the summer when hospitals were generally quieter anyway. But now, just as our cases increase a lot and we head into winter bugs season, it’s seemingly time to stop reporting. I wonder if it’s related to the fact that schools have just reopened.

bb1234567

facehugger99 wrote: »

Provides the Covid bed-wetters with a daily opportunity to whip themselves into hysterics.

Should be canceled immediately - it's outrageous it's been allowed to persist for so many months.

Outrageous that infection numbers are made publicly available during a pandemic. Right..

Outrgeous would be concealing figures for an entire week unnecessarily.
Having said that, people pay far too much attention to the daily figure and read way too much into how much impact just one day will have long term. Much more important to look out for is the average trend combined with preceeding days, and also many other more important figures such as hospitalisations, positivity rates. Case number is really so meaningless without further context.