Image credit: NIAID at Bloomberg With all 50 states beginning some type of reopening after Stay-at-home orders and business closures, I wanted to assess the total number of COVID-19 cases/deaths comparing population density and Governor political affiliation in a state by state basis (I previously wrote a post on how States responded to COVID-19 based…
Category: COVID-19
Comparing COVID-19 Testing Capacities Among the 50 States
Basically, positive tests for COVID-19 should beget more testing! Image Credit: © Joe Raedle/Getty Images at Live Science Previously we learned that the United States has conducted the most COVID-19 tests than any other country. But in reality, we haven’t performed nearly as many when you calculate the total tests performed against how many people…
Differences in social distancing measures and their impact on the COVID-19 curve
Image Credit: Toby Morris @xtotl — featured on The Spinoff Yesterday, the U.S. experienced our largest daily COVID-19 death toll with over 800 deaths. President Trump rightly implemented another 30 days of social distancing in the face of the grim reality of the virus. Further, the White House Task Force now says we may have…
Why does it take so long to make a vaccine for COVID-19?
Image Credit: Ted S. Warren, AP With all the (mis)information out there, vaccines are definitely one of the most widely misattributed subjects. Regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic, why can’t we just make a drug or compound that cures or vaccinates anyone from infection? Vaccine varieties The problem isn’t making a new drug or compound to…
Getting 4 facts straight about COVID-19.
Let’s go through some misinformation related to COVID-19. 1) COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. It is closely related (but unique) to the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in 2002. 2) Please, please, stop calling it a “foreign virus,” “Chinese virus,” “Wuhan virus,” etc. It is SARS-CoV-2. It is the novel coronavirus….
Please, it’s time to start taking COVID-19 seriously
Image Credit: CDC – Reuters In the past 24 hours, numerous countries have all experienced significant increases in diagnosed COVID-19 cases. Italy: ~3500 new cases Spain: ~2000 new cases Germany: ~900 new cases United States: ~1000 new cases (nearly 50% increase) Now, more than ever, we must be responsible and practice social distancing to minimize…
COVID-19 paralysis by analysis
Image Credit: New York Times (Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Spread of the Outbreak) The U.S. is approaching 2000 known cases of COVID-19, and as of Friday afternoon, 41 total deaths. Countless conferences, sports conferences, and events have either been cancelled or postponed. And this afternoon, President Trump declared a National Emergency, enacting the Stafford Act…
The implications of viral strains
Image credit: Alissa Eckert/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / AFP – Getty Images Much is unknown about the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Recently, a Chinese laboratory published preliminary results about two strains identified in patients: one ancenstral strain known as the “S” strain, and another mutated strain designated as the…