Sometimes I read the weekly report of the RIVM. I always think my own so I try to avoid it. Today I saw Gommers on the front page of the AD and I became curious again so I read the tidings of fear from a few days ago. I started with a FB post as a response but it soon becomes too long and I want to get rid of it anyway. And to think that this is only about the headline and the introductory paragraph. Close Reading, shall we say.
For 6 weeks in a row, the estimated number of contagious people in the Netherlands has been decreasing. See the RIVM graph: according to them, the peak was on 14 October. (That's strange, by the way, because you didn't see the growth of 'RIVM infections' level off until around October 20, I remember that because I described that good news then here. This aside.)
Definitely a relatively worrying R0 out of 1
Anyway, back to this week's post: "Worrying increase in the number of COVID-19 reports" headlines RIVM nevertheless. For weeks (months) there has been screaming murder and fire. And so it was again this week. Reports are killing, you would say, stop doing that.
Then follows, in the next paragraph:
“The percentage of people with a positive test result has risen to 11.6%. In the week before, it was 11.1%.“
From 11.1 to 11.6 is an increase of 4.5%. Whether that is worrisome for mid-December is not further explained. No context, no reference, as always. Meaningless figures, framed with frightening words.
RIVM: "Last week, 27% more new reports of COVID-19 infections were reported than a week earlier.“
So 27% more infections while there were only 4.5% more positive tests. Those infections must then be detected without testing, there is no other way.
RIVM: "The reproduction number is still about 1.”
Apparently I have to attach value to an R number that indicates that each 'patient' causes only 1 infection, while the number of infections is rising worryingly. An increase from 11.1% to 11.6% is 26%.
Just knock me out.
And such people tell me that I have to have something injected?
Fear of needles is foreign to me. That's what it is called in the media if you don't have confidence in this vaccine: "fear of injections", something for children or stupid people. Now I have absolutely no fear of needles; I inject myself regularly and am very grateful for that. In fact, I was always a fervent pro-vaxxer, but this way they even make it against me. I don't really trust those bunglers anymore. And that reflects on vaccinations in general.
In short, they are doing a very bad job with this communication in the context of public health.
Now I do recognize the deliberate confusion of tongues: the RIVM shuffles absolute with percentage numbers, just as they lump the concepts of 'infections', 'reports' and 'positive tests' together.
It is contradictory, substandard and above all tendentious communication. Vaccination will and must be responsible, that's what it seems. Their tunnel has only one exit.
In the meantime, we are stuck with gas that should actually fall to the ground, unhealthy face masks, distance rules that fail in the most risky environments and a test that does not test what we want to know. And that in an incapacitated economy and desocialized society, topped off with a mysterious vaccine that will infringe on physical integrity. Topped with a jumble of data that will result in years of analysis work, it wants to be turned into meaningful information one day.
Plenty of inspiration, I'll enjoy myself. But that poor youth...
What you take away from the youth now, they will never catch up
The discussed message can be found here: https://www.rivm.nl/nieuws/zorgwekkende-stijging-aantal-meldingen-covid-19
