Contents
A year has passed since the first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection appeared in the world. In Poland, we officially recorded the first infection on March 4. Since then, the Ministry of Health has been reporting daily data on new infections and deaths, the number of people in quarantine, under epidemiological supervision. During these months, the messages of the Ministry of Health have often changed – not only visually, and we have found out that keeping statistics is not such a simple matter.
- Data on the epidemic collected by the Ministry of Health on the official website are very modest. We learn about the number of infections and deaths on an ongoing basis, broken down into voivodeships and poviats
- More than 22,5 thousand were added to the overall pool of infections since the beginning of the pandemic at the end of November. infections that “got lost” in the daily reporting process. It is not known to which voivodeships they were added
- In August, due to incorrect reporting, 230 were removed from the total pool of tests carried out, which at that time was over 10%. total number of tests
- You can find more up-to-date information on the TvoiLokony home page
From the very beginning, the Ministry of Health has been keeping statistics on infections and deaths due to COVID-19. You can find them on the gov.pl website in the “Coronavirus: information and recommendations” tab. During the nine months of the epidemic in Poland, the way the data was presented on the website has changed – however, it was always possible to find there only data on infections and deaths due to COVID-19 broken down by voivodships (and now also by poviats). Where are the data on the number of people in quarantine, under epidemiological supervision, number of hospitalizations, number of people on ventilators, ask? Such information appears only in messages provided on Twitter or Facebook, but is in no way collected and made available on the page with information about the development of the epidemic in Poland.
Since they started appearing, we collect them and present them on charts. Current statistics can be found in these articles: COVID-19 Coronavirus Coverage and Coronavirus in Poland. Statistics for voivodships
We admit that it is not easy to collect this data, because over the months the Ministry of Health changed the rules according to which information was provided several times. There were also several errors that put the reliability of the collected data into question.
Change in death reporting
For a long time, the Ministry of Health has given its daily reports of COVID-19 deaths by age, gender and place of death. Thanks to the collection of this data (it was not and still is not on the official website), we were able to compare the mortality among men and women, as well as in specific age groups. At the end of September, the Ministry of Health also announced the division of covid deaths into deaths due to COVID-19 and deaths due to the coexistence of COVID-19 with other diseases.
However, we were not able to enjoy this change for too long. On October 9, the Ministry of Health announced that it will no longer provide details of the deceased, such as age, sex and place of death. How did officials explain their decision? Reducing the number of characters in text messages and the increasing form of messages transmitted … At the beginning of October, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 did not exceed 100, but then it started to grow rapidly. Not surprisingly, the data on the gender and age of the patients did not fit in the communication. Unfortunately, it was in vain to look for them on the website of the Ministry of Health.
Detailed data could only be obtained from the spokespersons of voivodes and voivodeship sanitary stations. Now, even this form of data collection has been taken away, because as of November 24, sanitary and epidemiological stations have not provided statistics on infections and deaths, as well as other data on the COVID-19 epidemic.
Zobacz: Sanepids will no longer provide data from poviats. We will only know the number of infections nationwide
The difficulty in getting detailed data on deaths from COVID-19 is just the tip of the iceberg.
From the beginning of September, the so-called the second wave of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections. As a result, we recorded more and more new cases and more and more deaths from COVID-19 every day. In all this reporting madness, 22 infections that were not included in the reports “got lost” imperceptibly. The fact that there are large discrepancies between the data reported by the Ministry of Health and those provided by sanitary and epidemiological stations was reported by 594-year-old Michał Rogalski (hailed by the media as “a student who rules the country”).
Initially, Rogalski’s questions went unnoticed, but when the discrepancies in the Mazowieckie Province alone reached 14, the matter became loud. It turned out that the official statistics provided by the Ministry of Health lost the aforementioned over 22,5 thousand. infections. How was the matter resolved by the rulers? They added lost infections to the overall pool of infections and announced changes to the reporting method, which resulted in the fact that now data can only be obtained from one source – the Ministry of Health. County and provincial sanctions can no longer show their reports.
Zobacz: The Ministry of Health is changing the form of reports on the coronavirus. What can we learn from them now?
From the outset of the epidemic, there have been major or minor mistakes in infections or deaths – duplicate data that was then removed from the general pool. Usually, however, it was about a few or several dozen infections, which were ultimately subtracted from the general pool, and not suddenly added.
This is not the first time that the statistics provided did not correspond to reality. A large error also appeared in the reporting of the number of COVID-19 tests performed in individual provinces.
We subtract 230 thousand. COVID-19 tests from the general pool
When it comes to the number of COVID-19 tests performed, unfortunately we have nothing to brag about. We are at the last end among European countries in terms of the total number of tests performed and the number of tests per million inhabitants. We also have a high percentage of positive tests in the total number of tests (usually counted for seven days. See: Poland has the highest percentage of positive tests for COVID-19 in the world)
In general, there are no reasons to be proud. It is even more surprising that for three months the person responsible for the daily and weekly reports on the number of COVID-19 tests did not notice that the number of tests reported by one of the provinces is surprisingly high. When on August 8, the Ministry of Health, in addition to the usual number of COVID-19 tests performed on the last day, also announced that «due to an error in the reporting of tests by the Kielce WSEZ, which translated into the erroneous inclusion in the report of about 230 thousand. tests, we subtract them from the total pool of tests performed«, Among internet users and experts it was boiling. How is it possible that no one has caught it? 230 thousand incorrectly reported tests accounted for over 10 percent. all studies performed since the start of the pandemic.
Before the Ministry of Health took away these misreported tests, we tried to determine whether it was even possible for the Świętokrzyskie Province to have such a high test rate. For several days our journalist was looking for an answer: the spokesman of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate sent her to the WSSE in Kielce or the spokesman of the Świętokrzyskie Voivode. For several days we tried to contact the director of the WSSE in Kielce, but to no avail. On Saturday, August 8, the Ministry of Health made an official announcement.
We are reminding: Nobody noticed the suspicious number of tests in the province. Świętokrzyskie? We’ve been asking about them for several weeks
To be fair, it should be mentioned that not only in Poland we had a problem with counting the number of tests carried out. The UK government has quietly removed 1,3 million COVID-19 tests performed between May 14 and August 12 from the statistics. It turned out that they had been misreported.
Real stats
What we miss most in reporting the state of the epidemic in Poland is a website with real statistics. There is a lack of data gathered in one place that everyone has access to, can compare and from which to draw conclusions. The data published by the Ministry of Health on its website every day are incomplete and too little.
There is no historical data (yet), the division into voivodships and poviats may and is necessary, but it presents only “one-day” statistics. There is no information about the COVID-19 tests performed, about the number of people in quarantine, under epidemiological supervision, about outbreaks of infections, about the age structure and gender division of people who died from COVID-19.
Just look at the pages with statistics from other countries. We especially recommend Czech, Spanish and Slovak data. We keep our fingers crossed that such a detailed method of data reporting is adopted for us as well.
The editorial board recommends:
- Prof. Simon: All Europe is laughing at us. They start to think of us as stupid living in a strange country
- Will we not have to wear masks thanks to the vaccine?
- Four scenarios for the development of the epidemic for Poland. At worst, 95 deaths at the end of March
The content of the medTvoiLokony website is intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and their doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.Now you can use e-consultation also free of charge under the National Health Fund.