When someone is only giving me percentages, it gives me pause. One of the best books I read in grad school was How to Lie with Statistics. It was an oldie but a goody. Raw data is the only way to really get a good idea of what’s going on.
For example: The Indystar in Indianapolis was talking about ICU and ventilator capacity in Indiana (article dated July 29, 2021).
Indiana had 33% of ICU beds and 78% of ventilators available as of Wednesday. By comparison, IU Health hospitals had 41% of ICU beds and 41% of ventilators available in April last year.
Sounds scary, right?? Sounds like Indiana is woefully unprepared and is teetering on the edge, huh?
So let’s look a little closer using the dates used by the article.
On Wednesday, July 27, 2021, the total ICU beds available in Indiana was 2,245.
On April 27, 2020, the total ICU beds available in Indiana was 3,271.
This is a 31.37% decrease in the number of available ICU beds (1,026).
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July 27, 2021 ICU beds in use due to Covid: 184 (8.2%)
April 27, 2020 ICU beds in use due to Covid: 546 (16.7%)
This is a 66.3% decrease in the number of ICU beds in use due to Covid (362).
Let’s have a little fun.
July 27, 2021 ICU beds in use, non-Covid: 487 (21.6%)
April 27, 2020 ICU beds in use, non-Covid: 900 (27.5%)
This is a 45.9% decrease in the number of ICU beds in use due to non-Covid (413).
Doesn’t seem quite so scary when put into context, does it?
Midwest Chick's Place 
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