Georgia by the Numbers 2: Keeping Your Distance 34

Update:  Where have we gone in the three weeks since I Posted the first Georgia by the numbers?

People are starting to press.  No one in my area is pressing anymore.  THEY'RE JUST GOING OUT - FEW MASKS, LITTLE YTO NO SOCIAL DISATANCING.

When can we go to a restaurant?  Based on the crowds I see, people are going NOW.

When can we be in a play, or attend one?  WACT has a play scheduled for late June.

 When can we go to church? Some, but not all, have opened up.

When can we hold in-person meetings of our favorite clubs and organizations? I'm not sure about this one - I think most people are still doing ZOOM.  Given the scheduled Trump rally Saturday, I'm glad I don't live in Tulsa.  HOWEVER, we're close to Jacksonville and the scheduled Republican convention.  Oy.

Some of these and related questions have been answered by Governor Kemp - sure!  Go ahead and do it!  After all, things are getting better here in Georgia!  Kemp has a few common-sense rules, but they are being widely ignored.  

Well...

Are they?

Have we had 14 days of declining numbers, as the CDC suggests?

All I can go by is the Georgia Dept of Health numbers, updated three times a day.  Honestly, they may not be the most trustworthy numbers.  There have been press reports that suggest that Georgia and Florida have been manipulating and/or suppressing data to make their states look like they're recovering.

That may be true, but let's just take the Georgia Department of Health numbers and see what the state itself is reporting.

I've looked at seven-day accumulations, starting with May 5th, in two categories, confirmed cases and the number of deaths.  Results are summarized below -


                                                   Confirmed Cases                    Confirmed Deaths

May 5 - 11                                       4,565                                          198

May 12 - 18                                     4,281                                          205

May 19 - 25                                     5,117                                          199

May 26 - June 1                              4,499                                          241

June 2 - June 8                                4,598                                          119

June 9 - June 15                              5,917                                          286  


Although cases have not skyrocketed over this period, you certainly cannot claim they are declining.  And deaths have remained sadly steady.  The increase in numbers in the most recent week looks very ominous.  The rise everyone feared is here, but everyone around me still acts like it's over.

And then came Memorial Day Weekend.  A massive nationwide orgy of misbehavior.  What will be the effects of that?

 I'll let you know in two to three weeks.

The verdict is in.  Cases are rising in at least 22 states, especially in the South and Sunbelt.  

The President has suggested that the way to beat this is to simply stop testing.

So, the major question is...

Why do I still have friends who support Bunker Boy?