That's Not How It Works: Florida Media Claims 'Record' Number of Deaths the Day After Reopening Begins

AP featured image — Cones are set up to help beachgoers keep a safe distance from one another after Clearwater Beach officially reopened to the public Monday, May 4, 2020, in Clearwater Beach, Fla. Many public beaches and restaurants are reopening as part of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to stop the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

There’s no media bias in the coverage of Wuhan coronavirus, right?

We’re not really seeing them heap praise on Gov. Andrew Cuomo versus President Donald Trump, despite Cuomo presiding over the state with the worst record of deaths from the virus. And we really didn’t see them bash the Governor of Florida and Florida beaches while ignoring the crowding in the subway in New York City or the ignoring of social distancing orders in Central Park.

So I’m sure we’re really not seeing this totally not-biased hot take tweet trying to link a record number of deaths to Florida the day after the state has begun reopening in stages.

BREAKING: One day after reopening, Florida recorded a record number of new deaths Tuesday from the novel coronavirus, with 113 fatalities reported, including 11 in the Tampa Bay region.https://t.co/Nsg06oARhj

— Chris Tisch (@christisch1) May 5, 2020

As many then pointed out, this is a ridiculously structured tweet implying relationship of one event to the other when it simply isn’t possible, you don’t catch it and then die the next day. Unless they’ve discovered a magical new strain.

Additionally, the number itself is deceptive. If you read the article, the number doesn’t indicate the number of people who died in the past day but is ‘spiking’ because it’s adding in deaths of non-Florida residents who hadn’t been previously counted and may have died weeks ago.

psst…it has a 5-7 day incubation period so that’s not causal.

— David Fisman (@DFisman) May 5, 2020

You don’t get it and die the next day. There’s an incubation period before it becomes apparent that averages 5 days. Not to mention there’s a lag time for deaths from when it becomes symptomatic to when someone might die, maybe ten days to two weeks.

Deaths are a lagging indicator…can’t hold on for deaths to decline or you’ll be hanging on for weeks. Deaths represent transmissions from (on average) > a month ago.

Better index of success is Rt in your state…has it been sustained below 1? If yes–>cautious reopening.

— David Fisman (@DFisman) May 5, 2020

Add to that a lag in reporting from when someone dies to when they make the list, it’s not immediate.

All told, it could be weeks from contracting the virus to dying.

But hey, media being media. What would they be if they weren’t trying to sell a narrative?

HT: Twitchy