INFOGRAPHICS – This indicator, which measures the number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants, has been progressing rapidly for three months.
–As the epidemic evolved, the indicators to measure it also adapted. We remember the “Emergency department visit rate for suspected Covid-19”, Then the R0 – or effective circulation rate of the virus – gradually established itself as the reference figure. It has the merit of being very meaningful: measuring the average number of people infected by an infected person, it means that below 1, the epidemic recedes and that above it, it progresses.
With the development of diagnostic tests, another indicator has gained momentum: the positivity rate, or the number of positive tests compared to the number of overall tests. Combined with the number of tests carried out, it has the merit of correcting the following bias: the more we test, the more the number of cases diagnosed increases. However, if we find more and more patients, but the positivity rate remains low, this means that the epidemic is not progressing as mechanically as one could.
