A linkfest dedicated to the coronavirus pandemic is now a weekly feature here on Abnormal Returns. You can read last week’s edition here. Please be careful and stay safe.
Quote of the Day
"Fast, cheap tests don’t need to be perfect to help contain the virus. They don’t even need to be nearly perfect. Cheap and quick is enough — provided we use the information wisely."
(Tim Harford)
Chart of the Day
How much worse has the US been at the coronavirus than other developed countries? A lot. (chart via Our World in Data)
Intuition
- Our intuition about Covid-19 has failed us. Stopping the spread of the coronavirus means doing many things at once. Something the US seems incapable of. (theatlantic.com)
- Masks work, but the math behind their effectiveness is not intuitive. (digg.com)
Vaccines
- 9 reasons to be optimistic about a 2021 vaccine. (daily.jstor.org)
- Vaccine makers are pledging not to rush a vaccine to market. (statnews.com)
- The economic case to pay people to get vaccinated is straightforward. (nytimes.com)
- What happens if there are multiple approved coronavirus vaccines? (wsj.com)
Testing
- Positive trends are what matter, not precision. (wsj.com)
- For any number of reasons we are not testing enough children for Covid-19. (nytimes.com)
- A sophisticated testing system has not prevented the University of Illinois at Champaign from seeing a surge in cases. (slate.com)
Spread
- "There is no safe distance in a poorly ventilated room, unfortunately." (theconversation.com)
- Why shutdowns in the US didn't work to tamp down the virus. (theatlantic.com)
- Some evidence that the novel coronavirus may have been spreading in the US as early as December. (washingtonpost.com)
- There is evidence that restaurant patrons are more likely to get Covid-19. (eater.com)
Long haulers
- There is evidence the novel coronavirus hangs around in the gut of patients long after clearing the respiratory system. (fortune.com)
- Doctors are trying to a handle on what is causing long haulers to remain sick. (nytimes.com)
- Italy is finding that a large portion of Covid-19 survivors are still suffering after effects. (washingtonpost.com)
Children
- Why some people are downplaying the risk of coronavirus infection for young people. (theatlantic.com)
- How Germany has reopened schools safely, so far. (washingtonpost.com)
Hot spots
- How the island of Sardinia became a coronavirus hot spot this Summer. (nytimes.com)
- The Sturgis, SD biker meetup wasn't harmless but we really don't know the impact. (slate.com)
Data
- Why testing data in the US is no longer reliable. (theatlantic.com)
- Vaping increases the risk of severe Covid-19. (nytimes.com)
- Death rates for coronavirus break down on age and race. (theconversation.com)
Policy
- Like it or not, the US is locked into this trajectory at least through year-end. (theatlantic.com)
- Canada is taking the coronavirus seriously. The US is not. (theatlantic.com)
- Sweden's Anders Tegnell is unrepentant about the country's approach to the coronavirus. (ft.com)
- Why are N95 masks still so difficult to get? You can thank the federal government. (msn.com)
