What the ABSOLUTE FUCK?? - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

baddestmamajama.bsky.social • 38 days ago

What the ABSOLUTE FUCK??

Reposted from Gregory Travis

IMPORTANT

The US CDC has announced that, going forward, reported SARS-CoV-2 wastewater levels will be normalized to an endemic baseline

"Zero" on this baseline will be levels in the previous year

@evanblake17.bsky.social @benjaminmateus.bsky.social

Comments

walkncandyapple.bsky.social•38 days ago

kabinkatz.bsky.social•38 days ago

How many MORE people can they murder more quickly for no reason but ego & idiocy😖❣️

baddestmamajama.bsky.social•38 days ago

I want to update this post, as it seems the OP’s interpretation isn’t quite accurate. They *are* shifting the baseline, but to the 10th percentile of the last six months. Now, to me, that still looks like it will flatten spikes and make risk more complicated to calculate, but others disagree.

baddestmamajama.bsky.social•38 days ago

I don’t trust the CDC a hair, they have repeatedly adopted measures that make Covid look less dangerous in the interest of serenity, rather than safety. But I also think it’s critical to stay factual, and so while the OP’s understanding was slightly off, it’s worth noting the concerning change.

whateversusan.bsky.social•38 days ago

well there goes the last actual useful metrics we have

waldo.net•38 days ago

Yes that would be shocking if it were true! But it is not! The website clearly says that they're pegging it at the 10th percentile of the past year, not the *100th* percentile.

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baddestmamajama.bsky.social•38 days ago

Thank you for helping to clarify this! I updated my thread above to reflect (though my understanding is it’s calculated 2x per year, so it’s the 10th of the last 6 months.)

waldo.net•38 days ago

That’s right, yes. Great!

waldo.net•38 days ago

(This is where an edit button on Bluesky would be helpful. Sometimes we learn new things that changed what we thought before!)

baddestmamajama.bsky.social•38 days ago

For sure! I do still think the change is of note, because it will mess with people’s understanding of the data, and so many Covid cautious people need that data to assess their current local risk. But I’m always happy to add addendums to clarify when something isn’t right.

waldo.net•38 days ago

Absolutely, yes—I run a bot that posts wastewater Covid levels weekly, and I pay close attention to levels, and this change is surely statistically useful but it’s tough to translate it into something meaningful for a lay audience that just wants to know “can I eat inside or what?”