MacIver News Minute – DHS Math Mess-up

Sep. 23, 2020

A MacIver News Service investigation has discovered another discrepancy with the COVID data that the Evers Administration is presenting to the Wisconsin public.

Everyday, the Department of Health Services publishes the COVID positive test rate and you see this number repeated all over the mainstream media.

The problem is this number does not include every test result the state gets back.

The state only looks at test results from people who have never been tested before.

If someone tests negative – but they’re already in the system – that result doesn’t count.

If someone is tests positive more than once, only the first positive result is counted.

All together – about 700,000 test results have been tossed aside – out of just over two million tests.

Because of this – Wisconsin’s official daily positive test rate could be 40 to 50% higher than reality.

Looking at all COVID tests administered Wisconsin, not just some of the tests, gives us a more complete and accurate look at the progression of the virus.