CASES, DATA, EPIDEMIOLOGY & YOU!

So, our dashboard says -1 cases. About that...

Our dashboards are live documents. The data you see reported each day is a snapshot in time.

Fun fact: today, we actually have 20 new cases.

Why did the dashboard say -1? Let's discuss. (1/9)
Data is important to us.

Being transparent & providing you with the most accurate information possible is the mission of our epidemiologists. Their work doesn't stop after a case is added to our dashboard.

In fact, that's actually when the bulk of their work begins. (2/9)
Every case goes through a quality assurance process.

It takes a lot of time & effort, especially when you're in the middle of another resurgence and reporting 300+ cases per day.

Sometimes, their work will find that a case previously reported in Ottawa wasn't ours. (3/9)
The individual may have been tested in Ottawa, so the lab sample was logged at an Ottawa testing site, but they live in another region (Gatineau, Hawkesbury, etc.).

When that happens, the case is removed from our cumulative count & is added to that of another health unit. (4/9)
Today we added 20 new cases. But our ongoing quality assurance work removed 21 previously reported cases. Hence, -1.

We didn't need to do this. Our epi team could just log cases and move on with their work.

We do this because we care. Transparency is important to us. (5/9)
It's why we've said the daily case counts aren't what we should be focusing on.

They're simply the change from the previous day's cumulative count.

What matters are things like the 7-day averages, case counts per 100K, etc.

Those are what we use to gauge our situation. (6/9)
Also, for those data lovers out there, kindly note: the actual changes (new cases added, occasional cases removed) are on our dashboard, in the open data section. You can see it here: bit.ly/2SdSkzx

Ok, that's enough geeking out for now.

Let's just chat...(7/9)
The data clearly shows that your efforts over the past few weeks are working. But this isn't the time to relax.

Remember: the numbers we see today are a snapshot of about 2 weeks ago. They don't tell us what's happening today.

We know it's tempting to just open it all up. (8/9)
But it would invite cases rising up again quickly & we'd wind up right back here again.

TLDR: we're still in a pandemic.

Let's stick to the plan. It starts Friday.

We'll keep vaccinating as quickly as supplies allow. You keep being #COVIDwise. We'll get there.

-OPH out (9/9)

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Ottawa Public Health

Ottawa Public Health Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @OttawaHealth

10 Jun
THIS WILL LIKELY MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT IT REALLY NEEDS TO BE SAID.

Last week, the remains of 215 children were found at a former residential school. They were all victims of racism.

A few days ago, 4 people were murdered in yet another act of racism.

Keep reading. (1/10)
These aren't the only recent incidents of racism. They also won't be the last.

Each time they occur, people say "This isn't our Canada!"

Except it is. Racism exists in Canada.

And denying its existence is condoning racism.

It's all around us, if you're willing to look. (2/10)
Easy place to start: our posts & local media posts. Read the replies & comments.

You'll see people say "check the names" on news stories about crimes.

You'll see people talk about the "China virus" or the "India variant that 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 people brought to 𝒐𝒖𝒓 country". (3/10)
Read 10 tweets
1 Apr
THIS MIGHT NOT BE PLEASANT, BUT PLEASE READ IT ANYWAY

Today we expect the Province to announce further protective measures in response to the levels of COVID in Ottawa.

We know this may not be welcome news for everyone, but it is necessary.

Let's discuss, in 13 tweets. (1/13)
So, this is easily the most candid thing we've written since the pandemic began.

Simply put: our healthcare system is exhausted.

It’s been 13 grueling months, and the pace hasn’t slowed once. If anything, it’s increased.

The fact that any of the amazing humans involved (2/13)
in this pandemic response are still standing is nothing short of amazing. 

None of us can keep up w/cases like this. If it continues, it'll break us.

Nearly 1K people have tested positive for COVID in the past 7 days and we've seen about 4 high-risk contacts per case. (3/13)
Read 13 tweets
25 Mar
SOME OF OUR TWEETS HAVE BEEN LIES

Yes, it's true. Some tweets were lies. But they were small lies & they served a purpose.

We'll get to that...after we chat about today's numbers.

Please join us as we embark on this exhilarating 12-tweet journey of important information (1/12)
No one would blame you for being startled by today's numbers. It's a normal reaction. 151 is a big number.

There are only a handful of times when we've had daily numbers this high.

Plus, our % positivity and cases per 100,000 are now deeply into the Red zone. Not good. (2/12)
It's very easy to see this and be overwhelmed.

And it's also easy to see this and feel numb. In the world of crisis comms, we call this alert fatigue.

You can only hear us warn you about the need to be vigilant so many times before it just becomes an "Ok, sure" moment. (3/12)
Read 12 tweets
5 Mar
A VERIFIED GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT IS TWEETING ABOUT POOP. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE.

We've seen a few "but there's only X people in ICU" comments of late in response to our warnings about our numbers.

Allow us to explain why that’s an issue in these eight (yes, only 8!) tweets. (1/8)
Hospitalizations & ICU cases are what we call lagging indicators. As in, they can take a week or 2 to manifest.

Think of it this way: someone who is exposed to COVID today isn't going to be in the hospital tonight.

The virus needs time to incubate (which can take days). (2/8)
Then, they will start to feel sick.

If they do go for testing, they’ll wait 1-2 days for results.

Then they'll begin isolating, but their health will worsen.

Then they'll seek medical attention. And if needed, they will be admitted to the hospital. (3/8)
Read 8 tweets
12 Feb
THIS IS A CATCHY & ATTENTION-GRABBING TITLE

Today, the Province will likely announce what zone of the reopening framework we'll shift into as of Tuesday. Whatever is announced, though, doesn't change what we need to do. Why?

Kindly read these 14 tweets & we'll tell you. (1/14)
Fun fact: COVID-19 does not follow us on Twitter. COVID doesn't know, or particularly care, if we're in the Red or Orange zone.

The behaviours of the virus do not depend on the current ‘zone’ of public health restrictions. And, to be perfectly candid, neither should ours. (2/14)
Once upon a time we used to say #WeAreInThisTogether in our messaging. Here's the thing: we are, but we aren't. Not everyone is experiencing this pandemic the same.

Nurses, doctors, paramedics & healthcare workers have experienced things much differently than most of us. (3/14)
Read 14 tweets
8 Feb
Well, this seems like a great opportunity to chat about misinformation.

As the amazing people at @ScienceUpFirst will tell you, it's important to ask questions of the things you see online. So, with that in mind, let's analyze this now famous tweet together, shall we? (1/4)
(i) using that placeholder image makes no sense. None. It just seems like a redundant amount of work to have made it, no?

(ii) it's posted via Twitter & a quick scan of our tweets shows we always use the same platform when scheduling (i.e. it was not a pre-scheduled tweet) (2/4)
(iii) we didn't delete it. We were actively liking/replying to everyone after the post went live, so we were definitely watching. If it was a mistake, surely we would've deleted it before people saw it.

If Twitter had an edit button we could've fixed it, but we digress. (3/4)
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(