[Info-vax] COVID-19

[Jan-Erik Söderholm]

Den 2020-12-13 kl. 23:38, skrev Stephen Hoffman:
> On 2020-12-13 20:44:55 +0000, Jan-Erik Søderholm said:
> 
>> But the "infected" numbers are very hard to value since they are very 
>> much depending on the volume of testing done.
> 
> More tests does not mean more cases.

It does, in absolute numbers. Such as all public statistics are setup.

> 
> With sufficient tests to gain a reasonable sample of the population, it's 
> the positivity rate of the tests run that matters, and less the total 
> number of tests run.

Of course. But that is not how the popular numbers are presented.
It is by absolute numbers, and they are hard to compare.

> Fewer tests with a higher positivity rate means that the current testing 
> regime is missing more cases.
> 
> Lower positivity rates—and again, with some diversity of the test 
> sampling—means fewer cases, even with fewer tests.
> 

Of course. No one would argue about that. But those relative numbers
are not as popular as the absolute numbers or the numbers/inhabitant.