Talk:COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan/Archive 1

WikiProject COVID-19
I've created WikiProject COVID-19 as a temporary or permanent WikiProject and invite editors to use this space for discussing ways to improve coverage of the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. Please bring your ideas to the project/talk page. Stay safe, --- Another Believer ( Talk ) 16:50, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Regarding "unconfirmed" content
Why not include sourced content that hasn't been officially updated by the state? I understand not updating the totals yet, but that information has still been reported in numerous places. The state only updates the site at 2pm, so naturally there's gonna be some lag with what's reported. Why sacrifice having the most up-to-date info just because it hasn't been posted to the site yet? The info was still released by MDHHS. Rcul4u998 (talk) 03:03, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
 * It's usually a rule that primary sources (the state) and secondary sources (the media) have to match. Put a "sources differ" note if you want to leave it in, and add some more media sources so it doesn't look like WZZM is "going rogue". TomCat4680 (talk) 03:08, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

I have no idea what I’m doing lol
Idk how to insert a map in the box at the top without it looking blurry. Someone else needs to do this from here on out lol. Also, I think the map should, at some point in the near future, be color coded to reflect number of cases per county. Jacksonjpm1 (talk) 21:31, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
 * It looks fine to me. Thanks for updating it. Color coding would be good too. TomCat4680 (talk) 21:35, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Looks fine to me too! Sincerely, someone who has been an editor for 7 years but also doesn't ever know what they're doing! Rcul4u998 (talk) 21:42, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

THANK YOU!
To the Wiki editor(s) who are updating this page, thank you for your work, it is my go-to for the stats. TAPwiki (talk) 17:36, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Glad to help. TomCat4680 (talk) 17:39, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the message! It's the only thing helping me to make sense of this whole thing. Rcul4u998 (talk) 21:43, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

Need to have number of deaths in the Chart/table
The current chart shows the number of deaths, but the table portion does not show the actual number of deaths (the others states have this). Also, it would be nice to have a graph of the new cases, there are graphs of new cases on the national pages. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 170.232.227.249 (talk) 12:44, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
 * The Statistics section has all those things currently. Guettarda (talk) 16:37, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I couldn't find a way to add the death number and percent changes to the main chart but we could add a second chart for deaths. Here is a mock-up horizontal chart:

There is probably a better way of date labeling and it doesn't present raw numbers only visual trends. Rmhermen (talk) 23:51, 27 March 2020 (UTC)

Calculations of new cases / total cases is off
After 3/26/20 the running total of total cases is off by 3. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.55.50.35 (talk) 16:00, 30 March 2020 (UTC)


 * According to what source? These are official numbers released by the state of Michigan. Rcul4u998 (talk) 18:48, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

Understood. The State also got math wrong: 3-25  2,295 (+504) 3-26   2,856 (+564) - 2,295+564=2,859 3-27   3,657 (+801)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.55.50.35 (talk) 17:41, 31 March 2020 (UTC)

Map outdated
Whoever made the map needs to update it. A few counties aren't highlighted but they should be. Here's what it should look like: TomCat4680 (talk) 19:24, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Hey, please remove Chippewa & Luce from the county map. Today, they were removed from the state tally and the cases were dissolved into the new MDOC category. Rcul4u998 (talk) 18:27, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

✅ thank you. Jacksonjpm1 (talk) 19:41, 26 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Hey! The map hasn't been updated since the 27th! (If you are able to update it, make sure to delete Dickinson Co, since it was removed from the state site's tally! Rcul4u998 (talk) 20:38, 31 March 2020 (UTC)

Notes re: Michigan.gov statistics
Ugh! I unsuccessfully tried to accomplish your last edit (I’ve done it in the distant past) so I went old school. Could you add ‘note a’ to the bar graph above and the info box at the top of the page? Denisebk
 * I can't get the note templates to work, but I added it to the bottom of the chart. TomCat4680 (talk) 09:45, 9 April 2020 (UTC)

Changes to chart
I've suggested making some changes to the chart here. Adding a link in case anyone is interested. Guettarda (talk) 13:07, 2 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Seems to be a consensus to add the death toll to it. TomCat4680 (talk) 10:57, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

Breaking up the timeline
I don't get the point of breaking the timeline up from paragraphs into a series of bullet points. Bullet points are much less readable than paragraphs, and generally speaking are most useful as reminders when everyone knows what's being discussed already. This strikes me a major reduction in article quality and usefulness to readers. Guettarda (talk) 14:31, 10 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I tend to agree, not only is it longer but I don't like that it feels like a list or summary, rather than a narrative. I'm fine with breaking everything up by date still, but I think the paragraph format is better. Rcul4u998 (talk) 15:40, 10 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Paragraphs would be better if there was more flow. When it was prose, each sentence was kind of self contained and it was getting pretty formulaic and repetitive. TomCat4680 (talk) 18:01, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

Statistics chart expansion
It would be great if the statistics chart could be expanded to include the counties’ populations and then the math could be done for cases and deaths per 100,000 people (world standard). Even better would be the ability to click on the column headings to arrange the statistics. Example seen in Alabama’s article. Denisebk (talk)
 * So very much appreciate you turning my suggestion into reality! ! Denisebk (talk) 19:36, April 12, 2020‎

The map is quite outdated!
Hey everyone, I noticed that the map in the infobox is pretty outdated, especially when showing cases in the UP. I would appreciate it if someone could update the map as soon as possible, thanks! --LiamUJ (talk) 21:04, 9 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Jacksonjpm1 was doing it but he/she seems to have disappeared. TomCat4680 (talk) 21:33, 9 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Taken care of! Added graduated counts per county too. Rcul4u998 (talk) 04:00, 10 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Good job, Color coding looks great. More colors besides gray and blue would be better though. TomCat4680 (talk) 09:44, 10 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks Rcul4u998! --LiamUJ (talk) 12:47, 10 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the continued updates on the map ! Denisebk (talk)
 * You have counties marked in green but there's no green in the legend. TomCat4680 (talk) 01:41, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh shoot totally used the wrong color. I'll fix it now thx! Literally could not even tell. Rcul4u998 (talk) 02:07, 13 April 2020 (UTC)

2020 coronavirus pandemic in Detroit
Hi Wikipedians, So the largest city in the state of Michigan is Detroit. I hope anyone will create article titled 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Detroit, The proposed article will be titled as 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Detroit will be focused on the pandemic specifically within the city of Detroit, Michigan. The propose article will include how many active cases, how many deaths, how many recoveries and how many overall cases within the city of Detroit. I will by happy for anyone's reply for the requested article to created and will be only focused on the city of Detroit. Thanks for your time. Come back some other time. 2001:569:74D2:A800:146C:3B2A:B2DE:1A1F (talk) 05:48, 19 April 2020 (UTC)

Decrease size of statistics chart
Another ask. It would be helpful to decrease the length of this article and make the statistics chart shorter if it scrolls like the one in the U.S. pandemic article. Thanks to anyone who tackles this project. Denisebk (talk)
 * Yeah I think the table is too long too. Leaves a lot of white space under the bar graph. A scrollable one would be better. I have no idea how to make it do so though. TomCat4680 (talk) 14:54, 18 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Also I still think the bar graph should include the stats for daily death counts, like the one in the Ohio article. TomCat4680 (talk) 14:59, 18 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Okay, I figured it out thanks to the Oregon article! Rcul4u998 (talk) 00:06, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Rcul4u998 (talk) Is it feasible to have the statistics chart scroll up and down only, not side to side? Thanks for being the “go-to guy” for charts. Denisebk (talk)
 * . It scrolls up and down for me. I'm on a desktop computer with Firefox. What device(s) or browser(s) are you using? TomCat4680 (talk) 16:40, 20 April 2020 (UTC)
 * It must be an issue with the device you are using. It is only length-limited, not width-limited, so it should only scroll vertically. It's vertical scroll only for me on both my laptop and phone. Rcul4u998 (talk) 16:45, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

Charts outdated
Those line graphs/bar charts at the bottom of the article need to be kept updated daily too. If somebody could get on that it'd be most appreciated. TomCat4680 (talk) 22:00, 29 April 2020 (UTC)

Table and number of new cases/deaths graphs appear to disagree by one day
The labels on the graphs for "No. of new cases" and "No. of deaths per day" are shifted a spot to the right. I'm unsure if this happens on the cumulative graphs. The table lists 1,719 new cases for April 1, but the graph appears to show this number for March 31 and instead appears to show 1,457 for April 1. Likewise, the table lists 456 new cases for July 7, but the graph appears to show this number for July 6 and instead appears to show 610 for July 7. Darlingm (talk) 01:21, 10 July 2020 (UTC)
 * I can't figure out what I did wrong. TomCat4680 (talk) 01:46, 10 July 2020 (UTC)

Remove non-unique statistics from prose
The timeline section of the article contains many lines such as "The state reports 1,158 more cases were confirmed, for a total of 21,504, as well as 117 more deaths, for a total of 1,076."

This makes the section unwieldy, and the information is not presented well. Later in the page, the case data is presented (using the Template Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/Michigan medical cases by county, which does a much better job.

I can't see a reason why not to remove this data from the timeline, and instead only focus on particularly notable, unique, etc occurrences. However, I'd like to get some input before making such a large-scale change to this (and potentially other) articles. Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 02:34, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * The daily new cases/new deaths charts/graphs are too hard/small to read without a magnifying glass, plus the dates and stats are sideways. Also the total cases/deaths charts don't give you exact numbers only "somewhere between 80,000 and 90,000" for total cases or "somewhere between 6,000 and 6,500" for total deaths. All of them are kind of useless imo. Keep the prose as is. TomCat4680 (talk) 08:43, 10 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Are we looking at the same chart? the one under COVID-19_pandemic_in_Michigan has the exact numbers of cases and deaths for each date. Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 18:26, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I meant the bar charts/line graphs below it. That table is fine. TomCat4680 (talk) 18:31, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * In that case, is keeping the prose still necessary? The table presents the same information. Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 18:54, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Yes the sourced prose is necessary. The chart is completely unsourced. If there was only the chart, each date's numbers would have to have its own secondary or tertiary source like the timeline does since the state updates the same page daily (i.e. once Monday's numbers are up, Sunday's numbers are gone forever). The chart would need a third column for daily sources from the press. I've been giving ref name tags to every daily source for that purpose (i.e. today's is ). So if you feel the need to remove the prose, go ahead, but keep and move all of the sources (five months worth!) to the chart. TomCat4680 (talk) 18:31, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Do you think that creating a page like Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/United States medical cases/Michigan would work? (the parent page is not well-referenced). Then, the table in that page could be linked as a source, like the template Template:2019–20 coronavirus pandemic data/South Korea medical cases chart does. Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 19:22, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm not seeing any sources in the South Korea page either. I don't think you're understand what I'm getting at. There's two columns now (# of cases, # of deaths). The third column would be "source" with each current source from that day's numbers from the timeline section moved to that column. TomCat4680 (talk) 19:28, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I do understand. What I'm suggesting is moving the statistics to a page separate from the template instead. The South Korea template links to the page Template:COVID-19_pandemic_data/South_Korea_medical_cases which contains a table with the detailed references you describe. Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 19:32, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I don't speak Korean but I see what you mean. As long all of the sources for daily data are kept/moved to the table and it's updated/sourced daily, I'm fine with an article like that. TomCat4680 (talk) 19:38, 10 August 2020 (UTC)


 * The new chart looks good. Maybe we should divide it up into months though? A group of small charts is easier to read/navigate than one giant chart. TomCat4680 (talk) 18:49, 11 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Sure, that would be fine. Repeating the headings every month should also work (and not have a redundant table footer for each month). Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 23:31, 11 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I divided it up. Should make it easier to edit/update it. TomCat4680 (talk) 02:57, 12 August 2020 (UTC)
 * There's way too much whitespace on Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/United States medical cases/Michigan and thus the Statistics section. There shouldn't be any. I've tried to fix it but can't seem to make it work. TomCat4680 (talk) 19:55, 16 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm not exactly sure what you mean? I do think putting the monthly statistics in noinclude tags would make sense, though - the page is plenty long and the statistics are mainly used as a clearly linked source in the graph, which displays the same information (and which was the reason these were moved out of prose in the first place). Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 20:07, 16 August 2020 (UTC)


 * View the article on a widescreen (not vertical screen) to see what I mean. There's tons of whitespace! Also why shouldn't they be included/visible? How are readers supposed to find them? They shouldn't be hidden! Why are they even templates when they're only on one article anyway? TomCat4680 (talk) 20:17, 16 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I was generally following what other articles were doing in keeping the statistics on a separate template page - to keep the article length down. I think the article is cleaner to navigate that way (and it's not like any information is being hidden - that's what the "COVID-19 pandemic data/United States/Michigan medical cases chart" template is there for). I don't have a particularly strong opinion here, but I think keeping the statistics table with sources out of the article makes it much cleaner. Elliot321 (talk &#124; contribs) 06:27, 17 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Well if that's the protocol fine. I eliminated the whitespace problem too. TomCat4680 (talk) 13:49, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 19:07, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Covid-19 Face covering sign at Rite Aid, Taylor Mi.jpg

Data Display Inconsistencies
First issue: why is the case count displayed as an absolute number change instead of a percent change, while the death change is displayed as a percent change? NY for instance has case counts and deaths both as percent changes. 73.144.213.158 (talk) 00:15, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

Second issue: why is the data box (with the last 15 days displayed as default) under the "March" heading? It seems like it should be above that, or in a separate section. 73.144.213.158 (talk) 00:15, 28 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I don't know why it's absolute not percentage, I didn't make it, I just update it. Somebody else put it where it is so it's under the infobox, best place for it to avoid vertical white space on widescreen displays. TomCat4680 (talk) 00:43, 28 October 2020 (UTC)
 * I changed it to percentage for the new cases listings since that seems to be the standard. TomCat4680 (talk) 00:55, 28 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks 73.144.213.158 (talk) 15:22, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Graph coding errors
I've been meaning to look more into what was causing some of the graphs to be improperly displayed. Has anyone looked into this at all, have any leads, etc? I briefly looked, and it didn't seem like it was a modification to this page that caused it, as previous revisions that used to render properly no longer do. Darlingm (talk) 18:11, 13 January 2021 (UTC)


 * I should clarify, by "this page", I mean to include Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/United States medical cases/Michigan which contains the graphs. If I load that template's version from a month ago, it still renders improperly. Darlingm (talk) 18:25, 13 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I think I found a solution. Looking to see if I can steal an upgrade from the U.S. stats pages as well. Seems like the graph gets confused that January is after February. Rmhermen (talk) 20:15, 13 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks for figuring it out . I thought I'd done something wrong but couldn't figure out what it was. TomCat4680 (talk) 14:56, 14 January 2021 (UTC)