The Georgia Department of Public Health has come under fire for sharing false data that claims the number of confirmed coronavirus cases is declining – a report that states Brian Kemp has used flat-arch models to justify reopening the beach state.
A recently released bar chart on the agency’s website shows that five confirmed cases of highly confirmed COVID-19 cases have dropped every day for more than two weeks. Atlanta Journal-Constitutional Report.
But there has been no downward trend as cases have steadily or slightly declined over that period – and in those districts, experts acknowledged that cases were flattened when the state reopened last month, the newspaper reported.
“Our work has failed. We apologize. This has been fixed,” the governor’s spokesman, Candice Bros, tweeted in a tweet Monday after the DPH changed its map.
DBH data issues in recent weeks have sparked confusion over whether the deaths due to infection caused more than 1,000 deaths – more than 1,490 now. The agency has reported at least twice that the children have died.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that some of the bugs were made after the agency had misplaced the days.
D-Atlanta state Rep. Scott Holcomb, who sent a letter outlining his concerns to the governor’s office on Monday, said the study was “just a hook.”
The bar chart that triggered the recent controversy was quickly changed.
“I don’t know how anyone can protect this map from misleading. I really don’t, ”Holcomb said.
A DPH representative told the paper that the chart was incorrect because there was an error in how the dates were sorted.
Kemp’s assistant told Holcomb that a software vendor caused the problem, the legislator said.
The governor’s office does not dictate what data the DPH will publish, Proz said.
“We do not select data and tell you how to portray it. However, we provide information about volume complaints, check for accuracy, and urge them to provide additional information if they are able to do so,” the spokesman said.
But some worry that the data is being portrayed in favor of easing the governor’s early restrictions.
Another drawback on the DPH page has led people to believe that cases are declining dramatically, despite the low numbers due to setbacks in data collection.
“I have trouble understanding how this happens without intention,” said Jasmine Clark, a De-Lilburn State Representative with a doctorate in microbiology and molecular genetics from Emory University.
“It’s not really accepted anywhere in any statistic,” he added.
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