Fox 35 in Orlando took a look at the reporting of Covid cases in Florida and saw something fishy:
Countless labs have reported a 100 percent positivity rate, which means every single person tested was positive. Other labs had very high positivity rates. FOX 35 found that testing sites like Centra Care reported that 83 people were tested and all tested positive. Then, NCF Diagnostics in Alachua reported 88 percent of tests were positive.
How could that be? FOX 35 News investigated these astronomical numbers, contacting every local location mentioned in the report.
Well, I'm pretty sure the number of labs wasn't "countless"--it had to have been some finite number of labs, since Fox contacted all of them. Nevertheless ...
Numbers like that are inherently unbelievable--quite literally--since typical rates nationwide are a small fraction of that. More specifically, if the overall positive rate in Florida was running at 11%, what could possibly be up with "countless" labs running at 100% positivity?
So Fox contacted these places. Only a few got back to them--what a surprise, eh?
The report showed that Orlando Health had a 98 percent positivity rate. However, when FOX 35 News contacted the hospital, they confirmed errors in the report. Orlando Health's positivity rate is only 9.4 percent, not 98 percent as in the report.
The report also showed that the Orlando Veteran’s Medical Center had a positivity rate of 76 percent. A spokesperson for the VA told FOX 35 News on Tuesday that this does not reflect their numbers and that the positivity rate for the center is actually 6 percent.
FOX 35 News has yet to hear from the other labs or the Florida Department of Health to explain how the error could have been made on an official report.
Clerical errors at one or two labs I guess I can understand, but at "countless" labs? My initial suspicion would be that someone at the Florida Department of Health jiggered with the numbers. It should be possible to narrow that down.
It reminds me of what an old economics professor told me about a government official he didn't trust:
ReplyDelete"If you make a mistake, fine. We all make mistakes. If you make another mistake, fine. Coincidences happen. But if you make a thousand mistakes in a row, then I think you planned it that way."
N.S. Palmer rote:
Delete>> "If you make a mistake, fine. We all make mistakes. If you make another mistake, fine. Coincidences happen. But if you make a thousand mistakes in a row, then I think you planned it that way."" <<
Ian Fleming had an even pithy version in "Goldfinger":
>> "One is happenstance; twice a coincidence; three times -- it's enemy action." -Auric Goldfinger
I didn't remember that quote, but it's a good one.
Deletehttps://the-1000-year-view.com/2020/04/15/the-wisdom-of-james-bond/
A news organization doing investigation…how quaint. Something is seriously wrong there. I seem to remember a question - maybe yours, Mark? - about what constituted a case: a positive reading? symptoms? and then of course hospitalization? Are the “cases” reported simply positive tests? Who tests the tests for accuracy?
ReplyDeleteI suspect insurance fraud. Hospitals get so much money for COVID-19 patients and a lot more if they are placed on ventilators, there will be fraud because it is so tempting for hospital administrators.
ReplyDeleteWould not be surprised if there are going to be some prosecutions.
A combination of insurance fraud and political fraud. I have, for several weeks now, suspected that that the COVID testing regime has gone completely off the rails with out and out fraud- it was the easiest explanation for why the death rates weren't New York/Europe level in California, Texas, and Florida. I wanted to believe that those states had simply learned enough about treatment to save people, but that explanation never really convinced me.
ReplyDeleteThese were 50 labs that someone finally decided to take a look at. How long have they been doing this? No answer in this story. How many others across the various states have been doing this the entire time? No answer in this story.
I actually proposed, on a different blog about a week ago, that one of the these governors in the Sunbelt might do well to create a secret team that sends out blank test samples as a control, and see how many of them come back positive. This latest story only strengthens the argument.
Yancey, one consideration when comparing Florida and California to New York and Europe is the basic difference in lifestyle. Far fewer living in high rise apartment/condo buildings, far more living in single residences in suburban communities. Far greater use of personal vehicles as opposed to crowded public transportation. Climate that allows residents to be outdoors more. It does matter.
DeleteHow about the RNs in San Francisco who reportedly became suspicious and sent in blank swabs that all came back positive?
ReplyDeleteLink?
DeletePolitiFact claims it's false. But with their record, and when contrasted against what that Orlando news station just uncovered, I'm a bit skeptical to say the least.
Delete"We could find no evidence that labs are deliberately manipulating COVID-19 test results to create false-positives. Similarly unproven claims have been circulating for weeks and echo months-old conspiracy theories."
"Jeffrey Sebelia, the source of the Facebook post, said it was a 'word-of-mouth story' from his mom. He had no further proof to support the claim."
"While COVID-19 tests may sometimes produce false-positive results, they’re rare. Experts are more concerned about false-negatives."
"Data currently shows more than 90% of coronavirus tests come back negative."
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/jul/02/facebook-posts/fact-checking-claims-about-nurses-getting-nothing-/
I'm just glad some reporter(s) put in the effort to see what was what. Imagine. Reporters being reporters. Now if someone would just take a closer look at the very idea of gain of function research, which, given the risks involved, almost makes no sense.
DeleteI remember earlier those two Doctors in Kern County, CA talking about this and how they were attacked for saying the things they said. Maybe they were right after all.
DeleteRob S
That story really leaves me wanting more details. Heck, this whole testing/rate issue leaves me mind boggled. I've lost all belief in Government. Can't these people do their jobs for five minutes without making it political?
ReplyDeleteWhy do liberals get to have everything investigated with a fine tooth comb, but everyone else gets silence?
Democrats still cooking the books in Florida.
ReplyDeletehttps://bit.ly/392RQQz
"DeSantis reveals criminal charge against ousted data manager"
"Jones had “exhibited a repeated course of insubordination during her time with the Department, including her unilateral decisions to modify the Department’s COVID-19 dashboard without input or approval from the epidemiological team or her supervisors.”
Seems there are a lot of Chinese Tests flooding the market with questionable quality...
ReplyDeleteSo it seems all tests are not created equally. And there is the materials used in the test themselves, reactants, etc.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-antibody-testing-inaccurate-data-60-minutes-2020-06-28/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52451455
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/07/covid_spikes_might_be_the_result_of_bad_tests.html
In this context, 'countless' means 'not counted'...it's to be taken literally. Regarding the financial benefits of the diagnose, I heard somewhere that hospitals got $9k from Feds if they admitted a Covid patient, and $35k if they were put on a respirator.
ReplyDeleteCountless really means “too many to be counted”. Is usually intended to imply enormous numbers, beyond counting...
DeleteIn this context, I’d say the use of “countless” regarding labs reporting amounted to hyperbole on the part of the writer or someone giving them “information”.
DeleteMy experience with journalism majors is that they are largely illiterate. I think it is just sloppy writing, brought on by an aversion to going through the effort of actually picking up a dictionary. They probably meant uncounted but had heard someone on TV say countless and just thought it was close enough. What's the dif!
DeleteGood article - blames AC:
ReplyDeletehttps://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/07/14/is-air-conditioning-contributing-to-coronavirus-spread/
Or people being more indoor.
I wonder if a uv filter would help in an ac? Basically a uv light. Negatives are impact on plastics (makes them brittle I believe quicker).
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/07/14/is-air-conditioning-contributing-to-coronavirus-spread/
ReplyDeleteNot sure if I included link.
Shocking - Switzerland after stopping use of HCQ saw 300% increase in deaths, after WHO's, and went back to using it, and death rate dropped.
ReplyDeletehttps://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stacey-lennox/2020/07/15/media-should-do-a-mea-culpa-as-french-analysis-offers-a-stunning-observation-about-hydroxychloroquine-use-n643181
Thanks very much, Ray.
DeleteMark - You are welcome.
DeleteI am still trying to grasp the politicization that happened to HCQ. From what I can tell, it's very hard in many states still to get HCQ.
CA, where I live, still has this notice that a physician can get in trouble for prescribing it.
The page that had a state by state is now archived.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200630005927/https://naspa.us/resource/hydroxychloroquine-chloroquine-and-azithromycin/
"FOX 35 News asked Orange County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino whether two coronavirus victims who were in their 20s had any underlying conditions: 'The first one didn’t have any. He died in a motorcycle accident,' Pino said."
ReplyDelete