New daily Covid cases used to be an easy way to track the pandemic’s severity. Today, you might want to pay attention to a different set of numbers.
BusinessFrom there, Noymer recommends"looking at trends" — like comparing cases from one week to the next — rather than the specific numbers.
You might also want to watch local hospitalization and ICU numbers for your specific age group, to better evaluate your own personal risk at any given time. It's a tactic endorsed by, an emergency medicine physician at Tampa General Hospital and professor at the University of South Florida, who says it can help you"get a sense of how serious cases are at a given time."
There's a common misconception that the figure refers to the percentage of people who have tested positive for Covid out of an entire population. In reality, it's the percentage of people who tested positive out of the number of people who got tested. In other words, the actual numbers for this metric aren't really that helpful. Instead, pay attention to whether the positivity rate in your area rises or falls from week-to-week.Moving forward, Wilson suggests using Covid metrics like a weather forecast: not a guarantee, but a tool for assessing your risk and taking the necessary precautions.