The World Health Organization’s recent probe into the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan has renewed interest in piecing together when, where, and how the virus jumped from animals to humans during the fall of 2019. The Wuhan Seafood Market outbreak appears to be a red herring, serving as an early amplifier of a simmering outbreak […]
TL;DR: New variants cropping up globally are headed to America and threaten to overwhelm hospitals. Our highly potent vaccines still protect pretty well against new strains, but we are not rolling out vaccine fast enough to prevent new epidemic spikes. November’s announcement of highly effective COVID-19 vaccines brought a refreshing break in the otherwise bleak […]
From childhood, I was determined not to become an economist. My father was an economics professor. So was his father, sister, and brother-in-law. I don’t know what other families talk about at the dinner table. My family talked about airline deregulation. My father was conservative, his relatives were liberal, and the same circular arguments about […]
Dear America, By now, six months into the COVID pandemic, you’re probably ready to punch someone in the face. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe your local school district just told you they’re not offering in-person school this fall. What the bleep am I going to do with my children?? Maybe you’d like to sucker […]
Low COVID infection rates of children combined with other countries reopening schools have made US officials bullish about sending kids back to the classroom this fall. But the question Should schools open? may not be as important as Will they stay open? Recurring outbreaks in a school district could mean a return to online learning […]
A coronavirus kindly spared a few minutes to tell me about the pandemic from its own perspective. Me: Thank you so much for taking the time. America has a lot of questions for you. First, is coronavirus the way you prefer to be called? Coronavirus: COVID is fine. Me: Can you tell us a little […]
As scientists race to develop a COVID vaccine at record pace, it’s worth noting that half the country isn’t planning to take it. Or at least isn’t sure if they’ll take it. Millions of Americans opting out of a COVID vaccine would be catastrophic for public health and economic recovery. So it’s worth understanding why […]
Futbol! As a possible sign that the apocalypse is not coming quite yet, Premier League soccer began in the UK last week. US star Christian Pulisic came off the bench to score for Chelsea. While wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt. Was this my reward for all those months of quarantine? But as we celebrate […]
In my last post I mentioned that people shouldn’t assess COVID risk solely based on the presence or absence of masks. But I didn’t clarify what criteria should be used instead. This is the order in which I generally evaluate COVID risk associated with a particular activity. This list is different from the more popular […]
You may have noticed that I didn’t say a word about masks in my recent blog post. Because by this point people are already either on Team Mask or Team Naked Face and no one is switching teams. To Team Mask, masks have become an indicator of whether someone is informed/socially responsible or ignorant/narcissist. To […]
Congratulations, America. You have survived Stage 1 of the Tour de COVID. You pulled together, and learned all kinds of new tricks. How to Zoom. How to order groceries online. How to homeschool kids. And the trickiest of all: how to walk in public with an awareness of your space that requires not burying your […]
Question: Why does the Bible command us to Be Fruitful and Multiply? Answer: Because half of the kids weren’t going to see their fifth birthday. For the last 10,000 years of human history, and as recently as my grandmother’s generation, children grew up with foundational experiences that included death of friends and family by infectious […]
In the upcoming months, there will be intense pressure to relax social distancing, get back to work, and let your children run outside. And never return. For at least a week. Tension over when to open sectors of the economy will explode into a ThunderDome Death Match between politicians, economists, and medical experts. Expect government […]
In case the COVID epidemic has piqued your interest in the wild world of viruses, there are some wonderful books that manage to pack scientific detail about viruses, emerging pathogens, and the threat of global pandemics into vivid narratives aimed for a lay audience. Here are 5 non-fiction books I recommend. Excellent for bored teenagers. […]
I apologize for the three-week hiatus in the COVID blog. A few Saturdays ago a horse and I had a little disagreement about whether I or not I should be on its back. The horse won. The Suburban Hospital ER was empty except for a few COVID cases, and scans showed that I had experienced […]
Across the world, people are coming up with great ideas for how to deal with the COVID emergency. I’ll keep a running list in case others want to copy. Senior hotline for COVID information, isolation (CA) Drive-through testing clinics (NY) Free COVID testing (including emergency room visit), regardless of health insurance (Fed) Paid sick leave […]
Map of global COVID cases/deaths, Johns Hopkins University Good summary of several aspects of COVID outbreak Incubation Period Symptoms CDC info for preparing your home Deeper into the Science Modeling tool to simulate how interventions could alter the course of a COVID epidemic, Richard Neher Molecular epidemiology, Trevor Bedford
Week 11 (March 9-15) Do I have COVID? The most tell-tale signs of a COVID infection are: -Fever -Dry cough -Shortness of breath More details on symptoms here. A snuffy/runny nose is a sign that you probably have just a regular respiratory infection. What do I do now? If you are severely ill, go to […]
Week 11 (March 9-15) There’s a simple reason people can’t decide whether they should be scared out of their wits or shrugging off COVID. It’s because human brains are not good at thinking at abstract population levels. Even doctors’ brains. But you cannot understand the current COVID situation if you don’t have a simple understanding […]
Week 11 (March 9-15) What a difference a night makes. Tom Hanks has COVID. The NBA and MLB canceled games. It’s going to suddenly become a whole lot easier for mayors to close schools and cancel senior bingo games. Most Americans now recognize that COVID is going to have a major impact on their daily […]