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Well I don't have positive PCR data for Boston specifically, but the data from Massachusetts generally has peaks at basically the same times over the last year
by rossdavidh 5y ago
Well I don't have positive PCR data for Boston specifically, but the data from Massachusetts generally has peaks at basically the same times over the last year and a half, so I'd say it's a valid measure.
- jghn 5y agoI followed it pretty close until the spring. My recollection was that the data were noisy but over time seemed to have a strong correlation with what we saw in terms of case counts. Where it was less useful was when people would cite it day by day. All kinds of examples where it'd contradict what we were seeing in the actual COVID data when using it that way.
- dustintrex 5y agoBy "actual COVID data", do you mean positive tests? All things considered, I would assume that wastewater data to be a lot less suspectible to biases (eg who gets tested) and random fluctuations (testing on weekends, holidays, etc).
- jghn 5y agoYes. r/coronavirusma had a daily dashboard with numbers on positive tests, hospitalizations, and deaths.
- rossdavidh 5y agoShould have mentioned that the data I was referring to I found here, at John Hopkins' Univ. github, which they are pulling from a variety of sources: https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19 https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19
- throwanem 5y agoStepping up for the pedants of my adopted hometown, I note the proper name of that institution is The Johns Hopkins University, named for its likewise plurally christened founder. Around here we mostly just call it Hopkins or JHU.
- rossdavidh 5y agoDuly noted. :)