Column · two days minimum
A single count has no comparison. It cannot distinguish a stable quantity from a spike, a floor from a ceiling, or a normal day from an unusual one. It is a photograph of something you cannot see moving.
The second day gives you a direction and a magnitude, and it exposes the first day's oddities. A number that dropped by half between two consecutive days is telling you something about collection as often as about the world.
Whether the direction is a trend. Two points define a line, not a pattern. A rise over two days can be the start of something or the recovery from a dip on day one.
So two days is a floor for acting, not a licence for committing. It justifies a small test, not a large investment.
Publish the number with its date, and publish the comparison with the previous date. Never publish a figure that cannot be paired. A reader who cannot see the previous reading cannot judge whether the current one is remarkable.
Because a record with dates is checkable, and a record without dates is a claim. The date is what turns a number into evidence.
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