Calling weekend data “often erratic and generally lower than other days due to reduced testing and lab staffing,” the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services is changing “the cadence” for COVID-19 data that they post routinely to the state’s coronavirus website.
Starting this Sunday, September 6th, the Department says that their data on cases, deaths and testing will only be reported Monday through Saturday. The department says that weekend data are often erratic and generally lower than other days due to reduced testing and lab staffing, and adds that with respect to policy matters, they focus their review of trends on the number of reports for each date that individuals experienced the onset of symptoms and not the daily reported cases which represent the day test results were received. Onset date reporting is shown on the MI Safe Start Map as well the Daily Cases by Status report on the Michigan.gov/Coronavirus website and that reporting will not be affected by the change.
MDHHS Director Robert Gordon says, “At this time, reporting on Sunday rather than Monday is not critical to our understanding of the virus,” and adds, “This change will allow staff who have not had a real day off since February to get some relief and allow the department to prioritize more valuable data reporting, including school outbreak information.”
Sunday and Monday data will both be reported on Mondays, including on Labor Day. Gordon adds that this change will not affect the department’s ability to provide onset date information for COVID-19 cases.
