Wisconsin

[Pakuni]

It is shocking to me that Illinois can have the most mileage of the Mississippi River, and its all ugly.  There isn't anything scenic along that whole stretch?

Try Mississippi Palisades in Savanna.

[shoothoops]

"People in Wisconsin called the State Unemployment Office 41 MILLION TIMES between March and June. An audit just found shows that just 0.5% of those calls were answered."

"Ppl in Wisconsin called the state unemployment office *41 million* times between March and June. An audit has just now found just 0.5% of those calls were answered."

https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1309719423184441344?s=19

[GooooMarquette]

The rise in cases and positivity rate in WI are alarming. A new record of 2,817 cases today and a positivity rate of 22%.

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/data.htm

[HutchwasClutch]

"People in Wisconsin called the State Unemployment Office 41 MILLION TIMES between March and June. An audit just found shows that just 0.5% of those calls were answered."

"Ppl in Wisconsin called the state unemployment office *41 million* times between March and June. An audit has just now found just 0.5% of those calls were answered."

https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1309719423184441344?s=19

Where's the outrage?  That is incredibly bad. Oh that's right, Walker's no longer the gov, a Democrat is.  Never mind. 

[HutchwasClutch]

Oh and Evers Administration also failed to report key information to legislators about scope of the problem. 

[Skatastrophy]

Oh and Evers Administration also failed to report key information to legislators about scope of the problem. 

This has been in the news, heavily, for every state since April/May. Wisconsin tripled their staff at the DWD to try to tackle the problem in May and it was all over the news. If you missed it that's on you.

[injuryBug]

The rise in cases and positivity rate in WI are alarming. A new record of 2,817 cases today and a positivity rate of 22%.

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/data.htm

Cases are alarming and something to be concerned about but it is reported the state has a back log of negative tests they are holding so they make sure the positive cases are contact traced.  Not sure how big the backlog will be but something to i read.

[HutchwasClutch]

This has been in the news, heavily, for every state since April/May. Wisconsin tripled their staff at the DWD to try to tackle the problem in May and it was all over the news. If you missed it that's on you.

I was commenting on news of this audit. Well aware of the disaster calling Unemployment has been, not to mention processing benefits.  But this audit brings into sharp focus and quantifies somewhat how awful.

And tripling staff in May wasn't near enough was it?  A band aid on a bullet wound. Because this audit showed miserable performance  through end of June! And then to top it off, information withheld by Evers and his staff.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Cases are alarming and something to be concerned about but it is reported the state has a back log of negative tests they are holding so they make sure the positive cases are contact traced.  Not sure how big the backlog will be but something to i read.

This might be a dumb question, but is there any effort in reporting a negative case? 

I can see prioritizing running tests on symptomatic cases and slowing down running tests on non symptomatic. But just don't know the benefit of holding something back if you know it's negative.

[GooooMarquette]

This might be a dumb question, but is there any effort in reporting a negative case? 

I can see prioritizing running tests on symptomatic cases and slowing down running tests on non symptomatic. But just don't know the benefit of holding something back if you know it's negative.

Yeah - I had the same question when I read that comment. Usually when a test is run for a communicable disease that is reportable to the state, it gets done automatically. I know that's the way they set up tests at most of the labs I have worked with.

[The Sultan]

Cases are alarming and something to be concerned about but it is reported the state has a back log of negative tests they are holding so they make sure the positive cases are contact traced.  Not sure how big the backlog will be but something to i read.

This makes no sense. Releasing a negative test is little to no effort.

[Warriors4ever]

I agree, how would releasing a negative test result impact contact tracing?

[mu03eng]

Negative tests are put to the bottom of the pile to process and dedupe. Its counter intuitive but when the positive tests go up in volume the negative testing processing goes down which is why you'll see the PTR % go sky high for a while then come crashing down because the negative tests "take longer to process".

Also keep in mind, different labs take different timelines for all tests so today's numbers reflect test results that are anywhere from 4 hours to 6 days old

[mu_hilltopper]

"People in Wisconsin called the State Unemployment Office 41 MILLION TIMES between March and June. An audit just found shows that just 0.5% of those calls were answered."

The Unemployment office is staffed and budgeted for a weekly sprinkle of rain.  COVID is a Cat 5 hurricane in comparison.   

Of course millions of calls went unanswered.  It's what happens when you put 40 million pounds of sand in a 10 pound bag.   

[rocky_warrior]

Of course millions of calls went unanswered.  It's what happens when you put 40 million pounds of sand in a 10 pound bag.

Diamonds?  Oh.  That wasn't a question.  But anyway, you get exotic salt:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/12/scienceshot-salt-under-pressure

[jesmu84]

Cases are alarming and something to be concerned about but it is reported the state has a back log of negative tests they are holding so they make sure the positive cases are contact traced.  Not sure how big the backlog will be but something to i read.

Source?

[GooooMarquette]

WI cases 'down' to 2,217 today...but the positivity rate is an alarming 27.6%. Wtf, Wisconsin?

https://twitter.com/DHSWI/status/1310293170165551105?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

[tower912]

And it isn't just the college towns.   Right now, Wiscy is #1.     

[MUfan12]

Cases are alarming and something to be concerned about but it is reported the state has a back log of negative tests they are holding so they make sure the positive cases are contact traced.  Not sure how big the backlog will be but something to i read.

So I was looking at the number of tests conducted vs. the reported results, and thought about this post. For instance, on 9/24... almost 29,000 tests were conducted. The announced results in the week following never got over 15k.

I'm genuinely curious how to interpret this. I assume those results would be spread out some as they come in.

[mu_hilltopper]

So I was looking at the number of tests conducted vs. the reported results, and thought about this post. For instance, on 9/24... almost 29,000 tests were conducted. The announced results in the week following never got over 15k.

I'm genuinely curious how to interpret this. I assume those results would be spread out some as they come in.

Test counts go up and down for, well, random reasons, at the whims of humans deciding they have a headache or think Bob from down the street coughed on them, or that they want to visit grampa and need a clean test.   Large bulk jumps likely mean an entire sector has motivation, like schools wanting all their students tested.

This is why I find the % positive reports to be a flimsy statistic.  It shows kinda sorta something on a particular day.

[The Lens]

Test counts go up and down for, well, random reasons, at the whims of humans deciding they have a headache or think Bob from down the street coughed on them, or that they want to visit grampa and need a clean test.   Large bulk jumps likely mean an entire sector has motivation, like schools wanting all their students tested.

This is why I find the % positive reports to be a flimsy statistic.  It shows kinda sorta something on a particular day.

Given what we have heard about testing...

1) not always quick & accessible
2) results can take days to come back

Wouldn't you guess that the majority of people being tested are those with symptoms / immediate exposure.  We know we're not testing a huge swath of people so why are we surprised by positivity rates?  And why are they such a measuring stick?

[MUfan12]

Test counts go up and down for, well, random reasons, at the whims of humans deciding they have a headache or think Bob from down the street coughed on them, or that they want to visit grampa and need a clean test.   Large bulk jumps likely mean an entire sector has motivation, like schools wanting all their students tested.

Sure, but what I noticed is that the combined positive and negative results announced don't come close to the amount of tests conducted, even over a larger sample.

EDIT: They are differentiating the percent positive by person vs. by test.

https://bi.wisconsin.gov/t/DHS/views/PercentPositivebyTestPersonandaComparisonandTestCapacity/ComparisonDashboard?:isGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&:embed=y

[injuryBug]

Given what we have heard about testing...

1) not always quick & accessible
2) results can take days to come back

Wouldn't you guess that the majority of people being tested are those with symptoms / immediate exposure.  We know we're not testing a huge swath of people so why are we surprised by positivity rates?  And why are they such a measuring stick?

Always found that odd as well if we are testing everyone daily then yes good measuring stick but I know by me they are only testing those with symptoms

[injuryBug]

Sure, but what I noticed is that the combined positive and negative results announced don't come close to the amount of tests conducted, even over a larger sample.

I don't know if the "backlog of negative results" thing is true or not, but there seems to be a backlog of results somewhere.

Just how big is the backlog?  The dhs site says the daily testing capacity is 39,000 we are not even close to that.  If the capacity is 39,000 and we are not close i do not get why all the results are not displayed.  If we were hitting 39,000 daily then makes sense for the backlog.

[The Sultan]

Test counts go up and down for, well, random reasons, at the whims of humans deciding they have a headache or think Bob from down the street coughed on them, or that they want to visit grampa and need a clean test.   Large bulk jumps likely mean an entire sector has motivation, like schools wanting all their students tested.

This is why I find the % positive reports to be a flimsy statistic.  It shows kinda sorta something on a particular day.

It's a fine stat if you use a 7-10 day rolling average.