Just browsed my morning newspapers and looked through some news and information stuff online. One thing that stuck me when I went to the Florida Covid-19 site is that the "main" Florida and Charlotte County numbers include the total number of Covid-19 infections. Now that we're 3 or 4 months into this, seems to me that number is somewhat meaningless. Maybe they can't produce the number I'd like to see, but total number currently infected, tracked day by day would be a lot more meaningful. Also useful would be the daily or weekly mortality numbers, not so much the total.
Why? Because cumulative totals tell one story: what the total impact of the virus has been. But the current number of infected people in my county and state, the number of new infections (whether a daily or weekly number), and the daily or weekly fatality numbers would tell me what the risk is now, and how that risk is trending will tell me if things continue to decline, are static, or if there's a spike.
I realize the total infected may be a hard one for them to figure out. They'll know some of the people who had it and have tested negative, and surely the people who had it and have died they'll know, too, but I don't know how many of the people they know had it have had follow-up tests and are now negative. Some, especially early on, may not have had follow up tests at all. I don't know. If so their numbers will just fade into oblivion (or Bolivia, as Mike Tyson once said, "Don't want to fade into Bolivia!"), and still be counted in the total number.
How many people are there who have it now? (Inquiring minds want to know!)
How many new infections this day/week? (Florida currently provides this number.)
How many new fatalities this day/week? (Florida also provides this number.)
All three of those questions will help us manage risk way better than grand/cumulative totals will. Those cumulative statistics on infections and fatalities are helpful for historians, but meaningless to help with our decisions today and tomorrow.
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