Would it be better if the dashboard stats were published weekly rather than daily?

[Lencoboy]

I have been wondering this over the past few days, especially given Wales' daily Covid (and related) stats published on the dashboard site have been a bit haphazard recently, as they didn't originally publish their stats on Friday, plus they haven't been publishing their stats on Saturdays routinely for a good while now, which tends to skew each set of UK-wide daily figures in the sense of being artificially lower on the days where one UK nation fails to publish their daily stats, then being artificially higher on the following day due to double-counting of the stats in the affected nation.

Scotland and NI have also been affected on the odd occasions.

So, does anyone on here reckon that weekly rather than daily publication of dashboard stats might be more representative?

Pulisa has actually questioned the publication of daily case stats on a couple of occasions on here over recent months, which also has partly inspired me to create this thread.

I know the ONS stats are always published weekly but they're always a week behind.

[Carnation]

Lencoboy, I don't look at stats at all but if I were to I would prefer a weekly stat to a daily one.
I believe a daily stat is not a true account of a true day. Information carried over from a previous day and possible carrying over from that day to tomorrow. Statistics that are missed from one day to another, errors, additions, blah, blah, blah.
Have you ever gone into a shop where they have tilled up early and said you "I'll put this on tomorrow's takings"? Charity shops do this a lot because they want to get home on time and don't want to be staying in the shop after hours, normally alone doing paperwork.
Similar will apply to gathering daily statistics, especially at the weekend when staff is thin.

[Lencoboy]

Lencoboy, I don't look at stats at all but if I were to I would prefer a weekly stat to a daily one.
I believe a daily stat is not a true account of a true day. Information carried over from a previous day and possible carrying over from that day to tomorrow. Statistics that are missed from one day to another, errors, additions, blah, blah, blah.
Have you ever gone into a shop where they have tilled up early and said you "I'll put this on tomorrow's takings"? Charity shops do this a lot because they want to get home on time and don't want to be staying in the shop after hours, normally alone doing paperwork.
Similar will apply to gathering daily statistics, especially at the weekend when staff is thin.

That's exactly the point I'm making, Carnation.

I've now come to the conclusion that day-to-day stats are rather vague and don't really tell us much, especially as they're often subjected to complications such as individual UK nations being unable to publish their daily stats on occasions, plus of course Wales not publishing their stats on Saturdays, both of which I generally consider a bit of a hindrance.

I also find the ZOE stats confusing, as they too are frequently subjected to chopping and changing, plus they're at least 4-5 days behind, and of course I find some of Tim Spector's commentary a bit contradictory (and also confusing) at times, for various reasons.

After all, stats for say, crime and unemployment don't get published on a daily basis, which would probably be just as problematic, if not more so, than publishing daily stats for all things Covid.

[Fishmanpa]

It's not a matter of frequency they publish stats at all. Its a matter of the frequency one is looking at them.

FMP

[Lencoboy]

It's not a matter of frequency they publish stats at all. Its a matter of the frequency one is looking at them.

FMP

Then in that sense one would only need to look at them just once a week if published on a weekly rather than a daily basis.

[Fishmanpa]

Then in that sense one would only need to look at them just once a week if published on a weekly rather than a daily basis.

Again, they could publish them hourly but it still comes down to how often one looks at or ruminates over them. Lenco, its well documented here that COVID stats are an obsession with you (and others here). I admit, when this thing started, I was somewheat obsessed with it too but after a while I realized that it made no difference looking at them and it just caused angst. It came down to doing what I needed to do to play my part in reducing the numbers. Following the guidelines and getting vaxxed is all we can do to be one less statistic to add to the list.

This subject obviously causes you angnst so why not try to reduce the trigger by limiting your research of the subject?

FMP

[WiredIncorrectly]

It's not a matter of frequency they publish stats at all. Its a matter of the frequency one is looking at them.

FMP

Boom. You nailed it.

[pulisa]

Again, they could publish them hourly but it still comes down to how often one looks at or ruminates over them. Lenco, its well documented here that COVID stats are an obsession with you (and others here). I admit, when this thing started, I was somewheat obsessed with it too but after a while I realized that it made no difference looking at them and it just caused angst. It came down to doing what I needed to do to play my part in reducing the numbers. Following the guidelines and getting vaxxed is all we can do to be one less statistic to add to the list.

This subject obviously causes you angnst so why not try to reduce the trigger by limiting your research of the subject?

FMP

What could you do instead of seeking out and trying to make sense of daily Covid stats, Lenco?

[Lencoboy]

What could you do instead of seeking out and trying to make sense of daily Covid stats, Lenco?

Good question Pulisa.

After all, I do recall you wondering back in the late spring or early summer (IIRC) if there was any longer any point in daily publication of Covid case stats, and I have recently given it some thought and now believe that weekly rather than daily stats might be more representative, especially in view of a lot of the day-to-day complications I mentioned upthread.

You are correct though, I do tend to get a bit too emotionally embroiled in it at times, and I should try harder not to.

[Fishmanpa]

What could you do instead of seeking out and trying to make sense of daily Covid stats, Lenco?

So what could you do? As I'm trying to point out, at this point, over a year and a half into this, it just doesn't matter. It is what it is and the only thing you can do is be responsible for yourself. The world is a new normal and we all have to find our way to adjust to it.

FMP