If the positivity rate fell, but positive cases and hospitalizations rose, don’t you think the health dept would adjust the criteria for what constitutes a problematic area?
If you’re serious about trying to mess with public health data, then you want sick people to get tested many times over using disguises and aliases if necessary. This way the cases and the positivity rate skyrocket with a comparatively small percentage of hospitalizations, leading to the mistaken conclusion that the virus is now weaker than it really is. If more people die as a result, well then, as they say, it is what it is.