Dr Maitiú Ó Tuathail, a general practitioner based in Dublin, said the daily announcement is “causing huge anxiety” and is “utterly meaningless”.
Dr Ó Tuathail added no other European country makes daily announcements about Covid-19 numbers.
He recommended the daily briefing be changed to a comprehensive weekly briefing.
Fully agree with @ciarakellydoc
Daily updates on covid numbers and deaths is leading to HUGE anxiety
Daily reporting is also meaningless, as cases go up + down each day
We need weekly updates on cases + deaths - that’s useful and meaningful
End the #CovidRollercoaster now! https://t.co/IncXMqvEW1— Maitiu O Tuathail (@DrZeroCraic) September 3, 2020
Daily figures are unnecessary because they oscillate up and down, he said, adding the weekly trend is what is important.
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 have varied in number in recent days with 51 reported on Sunday, followed by 214 cases on Monday and 89 on Tuesday.
kuNuU
Dr Ó Tuathail tweeted his support for Ciara Kelly, the presenter of Newstalk’s Breakfast Show, when she said it was time for a fresh look at how Covid-19 figures are presented.
Dr Kelly, who is a medical doctor and has had Covid-19, said the virus has to be viewed in a broader context. More people had died from suicide, in traffic crashes and from various diseases that had gone unreported, she said.
“We are getting this wrong. We are frightening people, and the narrative around Covid-19 needs to move on. We need to look at how we are reporting Covid. There isn’t a justification for it [the current reporting].”
