Dear Editor,
It has become quite alarming to this reader that the number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies surrounding the local coverage of Covid-19 statistics in the print media continues to grow.
In an August 8 article it was stated: “A total of 69 persons died last month.”
(https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/08/08/news/guyana/two-more-women-79-and-55-succumb-to-covid/). On August 19 a scribe from the Kaieteur News newspaper: “In May, there were a staggering 99 deaths. But this declined by more than 20 percent to 78 in June and was followed by a marginal reduction to 70 in July.” (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/08/19/september-reopening-of-schools-is-now-doomed/) . So, which is it? 69 deaths in July (Stabroek) or 70 (Kaieteur Falls). Sadly, it is neither. The actual number of deaths in July was 67. But the wrong death figures are not just about July, the June figure (78) quoted above by the scribe from Kaieteur is also wrong. At the time of the scribe’s pronouncement of 78 deaths for June the actual death toll was 81. It has since risen to 82.
But that was an ancient five days ago. Here is Newsroom yesterday: “The Ministry of Health has reported three more deaths from COVID-19, taking the overall death toll to 597. The latest fatalities also mean that for August, 47 persons have died.” (https://newsroom.gy/2021/08/23/19-patients-in-covid-icu-three-more-deaths-recorded/). In actuality, Guyana’s death toll at the time for August stood at 50.
And here is Stabroek on August 22: “There were no confirmed deaths yesterday but Guyana has recorded 18 COVID-19 fatalities over the last seven days, bringing the total number of deaths in August to 45. Throughout the pandemic 591 Guyanese have succumbed.” (https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/08/22/news/guyana/177-new-covid-cases-confirmed/). And, Newsroom: “Guyana has recorded three additional COVID-19 deaths, taking the death toll to 591 with 41 of those deaths recorded during this month.” (https://newsroom.gy/2021/08/20/another-three-die-from-covid-19-111-new-cases/) 45. 41. Which was it? Neither. The actual death total for August at that time (total deaths 591) was 44.
Kaieteur News also got the more recent deaths wrong too. But first, here is Newsroom again on August 14—”Three individuals, including two women, died after they were infected with SARS- CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease, COVID-19… With their deaths, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll has increased to 573. So far, 24 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in August 2021.” (https://newsroom.gy/2021/08/14/three-more-die-from-covid-19-111-new-cases/) From Kaieteur Falls – “Three individuals, including two women, died after they were infected with SARS- CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease, COVID-19. With their deaths, Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll has increased to 573… These deaths have caused the overall death toll to be increased to 573, while the total for the month of August has risen to twenty-four.”
(https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/08/15/guyana-records-three-further-deaths-111-new-infections/). And here is Stabroek News—”The Ministry of Health yesterday disclosed that three more persons who were infected with COVID-19 have died. The country’s death toll now stands at 573…Thus far, 27 persons have died from the virus in August, with 17 being recorded last week.”
(https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/08/15/news/guyana/three-more-covid-19-deaths-confirmed/). Twenty seven was the correct number of deaths in August at that time, not twenty four as reported by Newsroom and Kaieteur Falls.
But it is not just the death totals that are inaccurate. Sometimes the data presented on the Dashboard is wrong and unfortunately none of the media houses seem to vet the data coming out of the Ministry of Health. The August 11 Dashboard stated the number of new cases at 86. That number was wrong. It was 81. This is how it was reported in the newspapers: Kaieteur Falls – “Further, via its daily COVID-19 dashboard, the Ministry revealed that during the last 24 hours there were 86 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 23,156.” (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2021/08/12/covid-19-claims-three-more-lives/) Newsroom – “Meanwhile, 86 new infections were recorded from a total of 1, 580 tests. This pushes the overall number of confirmed infections to 23, 156.”
(https://newsroom.gy/2021/08/11/three-more-die-from-covid-86-new-infections/) The Guyana Chronicle – “Additionally, the Health Ministry has recorded 86 new cases of COVID-19, with 1,580 tests carried out on August 10, 2021.”
(https://guyanachronicle.com/2021/08/12/covid-19-death-toll-climbs-to-567/). While Stabroek did not quote the erroneous figure it was evidenced in its calculations. In your online article of August 15 you stated that there were 528 infections (or new cases) from 8601 tests from Sunday to Saturday.
(https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/08/15/news/guyana/three-more-covid-19-deaths-confirmed/) While the 8601 is correct, the 528 is not. It should be 523.
Two very simple methods could have been employed to test the veracity of the given number. To wit: August 11 Dashboard 23,156 number of confirmed cases in Guyana. August 10 Dashboard, 23075 number of confirmed cases in Guyana. The difference? 81. Or, you could have simply counted the Dashboard’s infected cases for the day based on the 10 Administrative regions: 3+2+16+49+1+3+1+0+5+1=81.
Dear Editor, all that is asked here is that the entrusted members of the Fourth Estate do their jobs well — even when they are tired and have had enough of this virus. And since the virus is not going away anytime soon it behooves the print media to at least get the numbers right, be accurate and consistent, not only for posterity’s sake but also to ensure there are no silly statistical conclusions premised on inaccurate numbers and inconsistent data.
Appreciatively,
Ellis Dee
New Jersey
Editor-in-Chief’s note: Many more examples were cited by the letter writer but for reasons of space they have not been published. We regret any errors that have occurred in Stabroek News reports. As it relates to monthly death tolls these figures are sometimes not final as the ministry adjusts these retroactively. Some of the data received has also later been found to be flawed and these figures are subsequently corrected. We thank the letter writer for the diligence shown on this subject. All things considered the media have worked assiduously on getting information and data out to the public on COVID-19.
