Ever since we started reporting the daily figures published by Public Health Wales, MyWelshpool has been asking for one more statistic to be added: “How many have recovered from Covid-19?”
As the pandemic drags on towards the summer, readers consistently ask us why we are not reporting that statistic, when it would undoubtedly help with our collective mental health to show that it is not all doom and gloom.
While only 169 (as of 11am, Friday) positive cases have been reported in Powys since March 11, and sadly seven connected deaths, MyWelshpool is well aware that many have already recovered and even back at work.
Many countries around the world have been reporting on ‘those recovered’ to try and paint an accurate picture of how many people are currently being treated for the virus.
But last night, a Public Health Wales spokesperson said it was not straight forward to define what ‘recovered’ actually means and explained: “At this time, Public Health Wales does not receive sufficient information to enable us to define when an individual has recovered from COVID-19.
“This is a new illness, we are learning more and more about the disease and its effects every day. We know for example, that in cases where an individual has experienced the more severe symptoms of the disease, it can take several days, weeks or months for that individual to recover to their pre-COVID-19 state.
“It is therefore difficult for us to define what precisely recovered means in this context.”
However, the spokesperson didn’t rule out that this may change in the future.