The state of Georgia released a very misleading graph that gave off the appearance that there was a downward trend of COVID-19 cases in the five most impacted counties when in fact, there was no such downward trend. What created the illusion of this downward trend was a graph that had dates in no particular order with dates in May coming before dates in April and other madness that state representative Scott Holcomb called “cuckoo.” Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s office has since issued an apology.  If we want any hope of containing this virus, we need to be able to have accurate data that we can trust, no? 

(Photo Credit: AJC)

“As you can see from the below graph, the US is leading the world in flattening the curve.”

I got interested in what the graph was that caused so much angst. Here 'tis. It sure does make it look like the decline in cases was steep, going to zero....

I stated months ago, politicians should not be briefing and/or making decisions regarding CVOID-19. It goes to the notion that a politician can never let a disaster go to waste when political gain can be had.

On the other hand, we have a UK virus modeler whose statistical model was used to make decisions for hundreds of millions of individuals found to be a convoluted coding mess.

I don't think anyone has any idea the statistical impact of this virus.

I also think we cannot continue to live like we have for 3 months.

Perhaps it's time to open society and allow for "herd immunity" to runs its course.

Yes, people die in every pandemic. And yes, we should try to minimize the death toll. But, not at the cost of depriving society the means and ability to exercise our freedoms. I've been to China and quite a few other totalitarian countries; none are places I would ever want to call home.

Coming back around to GA, a politician is caught with erroneous data (graphs), again. No matter who appears before the public trying to explain where this pandemic is headed is like trying to stand on a foundation of Jell-O. Good luck with that!

Another helpful chart in non-chronological order.

I think the world loves to hear from informed politicians who tell us transparently what they know as soon as they can — Rudy Giuliani during the 9/11 crisis, Roosevelt during the war, and during the current crisis Jacinda Ardern, Angela Merkel, Andrew Cuomo, Mike DeWine, Gavin Newsom.

The thing is, scientists can't speak to aid for front line workers, executive orders, regulations, etc.

Yes, it can be good for their careers so they have some self-motivation, but it can also be catastrophic if they aren't knowledgeable, don't act decisively and wisely, or try to bluff: Bush during Katrina, Trump, Khamenei and Bolsonaro during Covid.

Horrifying!!

So freaking misleading. Smh 🤦‍♂️

Well, one thing I’ve seen is there appears to be a shift in what the goal is here. At first it was flatten the curve. Now it seems to be eliminate the curve. Flattening needs to be the goal and then at some point, yes, we have to let herd immunity do its thing. Until we get a vaccine, we’re just gonna have to live it it as best we can. However, as @StephenL points out, it looks like the U.S. hasn’t flatten that curve, so I’m not sure we’re at a point where we can ease restrictions too much. Still, an exit strategy needs to be in place because we can’t stay on lockdown until a vaccine comes out. We need to be able to open our schools in the fall and get back to some sense of normalcy.

If politicians don’t know what’s going on, it is best they defer to those that do.