Template talk:COVID-19 pandemic data/Finland medical cases chart

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 ) 18:12, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

The use of HS open data
Hi! Opinions:
 * Is it ok to use this kind of referencing technique where you explicitly tell where the figures are retrieved (a Twitter user) and explicitly state where that source has retrieved the figures (open data of Helsingin Sanomat)?
 * Is it ok to name the reference used in the medical case chart template? -- Puisque (talk) 17:24, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, the style is fine. See WP:CITEBUNDLE. However, we should try to stick to reliable sources (Helsingin Sanomat) as directly as possible. The raw data would be the most direct source, but it is problematic, because it requires spreadsheet software to interpret. This Helsingin Sanomat chart feels like a good alternative, since it gives the daily figures based on the Open Data (excluding recoveries).
 * Naming the reference is very helpful. —Rutlandbaconsouthamptonshakespeare (talk) 18:36, 25 March 2020 (UTC)

Backdating of confirmed results
Since Helsingin Sanomat open data started to track the data from the THL we have seen the daily info being backdated. My proposal would be to not backdate the results and keep reporting the data as they come daily from the THL sources. That would also reflect the way the knowledge became available. If someone looks to the backdated charts 3 years from now they would have the impression that the data was available at a certain data, while in reality the data became available only days later. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Adriancjr (talk • contribs) 17:23, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

I agree with this opinion. Retroactively updating previous dates' case counts as THL is doing is not comparable with other health authorities, and I would say confusing. The number for a date should simply reflect the number of cases known on that date, which we all know is an underestimate of the true situation anyway. Why there seems to have been a pause in processing of test results at the start of April is a separate question, but one has to hope this does not happen too often. ABR (talk) 11:52, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

If You want to use the data from THL daily update, data is as follows. The Cases and add is from the source mentioned, and Test is the subtraction of the numbers from the source above, so that 2x sources match: Date;Cases;Add;Test 6.4.2020;2176;249 https://www.laakarilehti.fi/ajassa/ajankohtaista/suomessa-on-todettu-2-176-koronavirustartuntaa/ 5.4.2020;1927;45;1927 https://ls24.fi/lannen-media/suomessa-on-nyt-1-927-varmennettua-koronatartuntaa-yli-neljannes-tartunnoista-on-todettu-helsingissa 4.4.2020;1882;267;1882 https://www.uusisuomi.fi/uutiset/thl-juuri-nyt-suomessa-1882-koronatartuntaa-lahes-200-uutta-raportoitua-tapausta/fa3c52d4-6c66-474d-b2eb-adadb5adb252 3.4.2020;1615;97;1615 https://www.laakarilehti.fi/ajassa/ajankohtaista/varmistettuja-koronatapauksia-nyt-1-615/ 2.4.2020;1518;72;1518 https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006461321.html 1.4.2020;1446;62;1446 https://www.uusisuomi.fi/uutiset/tama-on-suomen-koronatilanne-thl-laajat-vasta-ainetutkimukset-eivat-nyt-kannata/d373a8db-3b7d-4b03-a1c7-bfd9a152c25f 31.3.2020;1384;71;1384 https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006459270.html 30.3.2020;1313;95;1313 https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006457692.html 29.3.2020;1218;55;1218 https://www.satakunnankansa.fi/a/e91dcf44-150c-4adc-8048-0506f33b90cf Something to think about. Cases released on 4th April (267 new) were allocated to (were the test results of) almost 20 different days. So you want to update the chart by test date, there will be a huge delay in getting the figures to settle. If we use THL daily new data, there will be cases of multiple days.

Comparability with some other health authorities is one issue. Be that as it may, the epidemic's time-course of interest concerns when the test is taken, not the backlog in testing, which is not necessarily constant. This backlog we can see monitoring daily the THL data seems to be about four days at present. There is a related discussion with some proposals for your consideration here: Positivity1 (talk) 20:37, 6 April 2020 (UTC)

"The epidemic's time-course of interest concerns when the test is taken," is an opinion. Backdating results to sample taking removes one source of variation, at the cost of making recent numbers subject to change. Variations in time between request for test to sample taking, between symptom emergence and request for testing, and between infection and symptom emergence remain. ABR (talk) 11:52, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

Active case figures
Hey, just wanted to point out to all the editors of this template, that the fourth entry of Template:Medical cases chart should have the amount of total recorded cases, not active cases. The template automatically subtracts the recovered and the dead from this number, giving us the active cases figure. If you hover your mouse over the orange bar of the chart, the calculated amount of active cases will be displayed. —Rutlandbaconsouthamptonshakespeare (talk) 09:12, 29 March 2020 (UTC)