COVID Rampant In CA?

[Scota4570]

I have to go in for a scan next week (a couple of weeks early) and was told on the phone that a mask will be required.

I'm sure this has something to do with it... Key COVID-19 metric hits highest point since January as California’s surge persists

What is "positivity rate"??? Seriously, I want to know.
There is no explanation on the state dash board:

https://covid19.ca.gov/state-dashboard/

How is it different from cases per 100K?

Who is being tested? How many? What is the testing criteria?? What kind of test??

IF we are talking PCR blood test and look for antibodies then eventually the positivity rate will be close to 100%.

Why are the number of cases per 100K going down while "positivity" goes up??

If you choose a population that is likely to be infected, then test them, you can get any answer you want. IF you picked a few at risk people and tested then you would get a higher than representative of the general population. It looks like they are cherry picking data from a category that was optimized, or just invented, to give an ominous result. The trouble is we do not test the general population so, we have no idea of the actual facts.

https://www.wired.com/story/test-positivity-is-a-bad-way-to-measure-covids-spread/

https://shj.cs.illinois.edu/2021-4-27_DetroitNews.pdf

[TrappedinCalifornia]

What is "positivity rate"??? Seriously, I want to know...

It's, officially, referenced on this page... Tracking COVID-19 in California.

About halfway down the page, there is a link to... Total tests and positivity rate source data.

On that page, you won't find the term 'positivity rate;' but, in theory, that's where the data is drawn from to determine it.

Back on the original page, it states...

The number of COVID-19 diagnostic test results in California reached a total of 174,357,115, an increase of 495,057 tests from the prior day total. The rate of positive tests over the last 7 days is 13.0%.

As a result, we are left to assume that the positivity rate is the percentage of positive tests over a 7-day period.

Now, Johns Hopkins is a bit more detailed with... DECIPHERING U.S. COVID TEST POSITIVITY. For me, what is important there is...

...Absent federal standards for reporting COVID-19 testing data, a national apples-to-apples view is not possible. Instead of uniformly applying the best approach to all states, the team of data and testing experts decided it is best to present the full picture, no matter how complex, so that the public and policy makers can judge the information for themselves. States inconsistently report and update data, with many retroactively changing numbers to such an extent that large daily swings in percentages are visible in many charts. The CRC accounts for these irregularities and notes when such major shifts occur and how the site has adjusted for them.

(NOTE: Test positivity is a measure of testing capacity that provides important context about case totals and trends. But it is not a complete measure of how prevalent the virus is in communities, due to the fact that numbers of tests being performed and who is being tested have changed over time due to factors other than infection levels. Policy decisions, like openings and closings or interstate travel, should not be determined based on test positivity alone.)

[Paul_R]

Wife got it a few weeks ago while visiting Cali. Gave it to me. I had a headache for a day. She was coughing for a week until she took a suppressant then it went away.

Hard to believe you're not in full blown panic!

[OlderThanDirt]

There is still a lot of drama out there. After two years of hyping cases, people seem incapable of noticing that the symptoms are mostly very mild. A lot of people I know have tested positive, all are vaccinated and are thankful that the vaccines reduced their symptoms. None of the unvaccinated people I know have gotten Covid-19 as far as they know.

Unfortunately, more Karens are wearing masks and acting like the unmasked are exposing them to the plague.

[Squirly]

Well I'm in Cali and going through 2nd round of the Virus. Tested +today. Also 2 neighbors (no contact) were sick last week. Also heard people in random places discussing positive test.
So yeah, its running

[Pablo5959]

My check stubs say I have 80 hours Covid credit. I saved my wife’s positive test just for the occasion.
She had it 3 weeks ago without symptoms. Slept in the same bed and I never tested positive.
The next heat wave, I may have to take some of that time, I mean get the bug.