Is my percent calculation correct

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I use MS-Excel 2016 and I need to know if my % calculation is correct.

I started keeping track of COVID-19 data over the last few months in the US as I’ve seen data in some articles that are not even close to any consistency.

I saw an article this morning indicating % of COVID-19 infections compared to the US population is much higher than my calculation.
— I’m not as adapt as using an excel spreadsheet as I have been in the past.

I use Countries in the world by population (2020) as my source of the US population
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/
— They report 331,002,651.

I use nCoV2019.live data https://bing.com/covid/local/unitedstates?form=msntrk as a source of up-to-date total number of infections at the point in time of the data at hand and is described as Overview.
— Today June 15, 2020 at 11:35 EST, their Overview data shows 2,135,850.

Dividing 2,135,850 by 331,002,651 gives me 0.65%. Is that correct?
— If not, what is the correct answer?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

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Your formula is correct.

=(S / M)*100

Gives you the percentage where M is the Main population number (331,002,651) and S is the Sub-population number (2,135,850).  The output is then multiplied by 100 to move the decimal two places into an actual percentage as we standardize such.

~ Group "Weekend" ~

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cmptrgy

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In Excel you do not multiply by 100, instead you format as % and Excel does the rest. That way when you use the figure in calculations, you don’t need to divide by 100.

cheers, Paul

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NetDef, cmptrgy

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cmptrgy – you were put off your stroke by a typically innumerate journalist.  Numeracy should be a required skill, but is often sadly lacking.

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OscarCP, cmptrgy

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ScotchJohn wrote:

cmptrgy – you were put off your stroke by a typically innumerate journalist.  Numeracy should be a required skill, but is often sadly lacking.

Your reading my mind ScottJohn. But I’m glad to know my calculation is correct.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

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cmptrgy

…there are only three kinds of people in this world – those who are good with numbers, and those who aren’t.

zeddy

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zeddy wrote:

cmptrgy

…there are only three kinds of people in this world – those who are good with numbers, and those who aren’t.

zeddy

I definitely fall into the third group.

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zeddy

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Also have a look at these two Johns Hopkins arcgis websites:

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/409af567637846e3b5d4182fcd779bea

 

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cmptrgy

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On my Excel spreadsheet, I’ve been using to keep track of COVID-19 data
COVID-19 Tracker
https://bing.com/covid/local/unitedstates?form=msntrk

The last 4 days from Jan 26, 2021 thru today Jan 29, 2021, Recovered cases has been recorded as 11,166,500 each day.
— To me, that means there haven’t been any additional recovered cases 4 days in a row.
— Does that make sense?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

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That number being the same 4 days in a row SAYS that there have been no additional recovered cases, but that does not MEAN there have been no additional recovered cases.

There could be issues with various entities reporting, collecting, compiling, etc. data. Or there could be a glitch in some of the software that is used in data analysis.

It could also be that various entities report data on a weekly basis; i.e., the data reporting is likely not being done in real time.

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cmptrgy

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