Maine’s weekly reports on coronavirus testing, instead of daily summaries like those conducted by other states, are adequate for tracking the virus, the Maine Center for Disease Control says.
The lack of daily reports means delays in monitoring the number of people testing positive — a key metric in tracking the virus’ spread and detecting new flare-ups — the Portland Press Herald reported Thursday.
Robert Long, spokesman for the Maine CDC, said the state finds the weekly reports to be adequate.
“Other states with significantly more cases might find greater value in measuring testing trends from day to day, but week-to-week trend analysis has met our needs to date,” Long said in an email.
Dr. Patrick Remington, professor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, said Maine’s once-a-week approach deprives the state of complete information.
“The more information we have, the better decision making can be,” he told the newspaper. “It just doesn’t make very good math sense not to take advantage of the fact that every day you have a new piece of information.”
