We purposefully ignore case counts. Case counts are currently a function of testing, and there is no accurate way to determine a positivity rate of a population - unless you have large enough representative samples that allow you to test the entire population within that sample. Current laws do not allow the state to compel everyone in a town or county to be tested. Without testing everyone in a known representative district will significantly skew the results to make them worthless.

We have no way of accurately estimating how many persons in Ohio may have the COVID-19 virus. Any guesstimation is irresponsible.

Death counts are pretty reliable. It is very hard to fake a death. It is easy to miscount cases but very hard to miscount deaths. So we concentrate on deaths. With that being said we do not know how accurate these numbers are either as we cannot determine if a person died from COVID-19 or with COVID-19. Death count is the most important number. People naturally want to know whether or not they will die from COVID-19. Obviously, knowing those that died from COVID-19 rather than with COVID-19 is very important. In all cases, every age range has more of a chance of dying from a car or motorcycle accident. Yet, we have not declared a state of emergency due to car and motorcycle accidents.

COVID-19 is not the flu. While there are a lot of problems with the data being provided from the Governor and the Ohio Department of Health - it is safe to say that COVID-19 is much deadlier overall than the flu. This is not to say you should upend your life over this, your risk of death or sickness is still very small. If you are in an at-risk group you should absolutely take precautions. If you are at-risk you should be wearing an N95 mask, you should wear gloves when appropriate, you should carry sanitizer, you should learn to not to touch your face, you should be careful of any delivered packages, you should avoid public restrooms when possible.