We Don’t Have to Despair

We Don’t Have to Despair: Medical research director Eric Topol sees light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel.

How to stop COVID-19 fuelling a resurgence of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis

How to stop COVID-19 fuelling a resurgence of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis: A focus on the coronavirus has disrupted detection and treatment of other infectious diseases. Governments and funders can do four things to avert a catastrophe.

The pandemic appears to have spared Africa so far. Scientists are struggling to explain why

The pandemic appears to have spared Africa so far. Scientists are struggling to explain why: So what explains the huge gap between antibody data on the one hand and
the official case and death counts on the other? Part of the reason may
be that Africa misses many more cases than other parts of the world
because it has far less testing capacity.

To make sense of coronavirus, we need to embrace doubt

To make sense of coronavirus, we need to embrace doubt: Get the numbers straight, but then question them

As powerful as they may be, coronavirus figures also
have their limitations. From the very start, mistakes were made by both
laymen and experts. Let me mention three emblematic examples.

First: misleadingly precise numbers.
It was immediately clear that the actual coronavirus cases were much
higher than those reported in official figures, and circulated, often
uncritically, on social media. Since in most countries not everyone was
getting tested, the figures could at best gauge the lower bound of the
actual numbers.

Second: skewed samples. For instance, a study by
Stanford researchers to estimate the prevalence of the virus in Santa
Clara County, California, concluded that Covid-19 was much more
widespread than initially believed. Researchers had used Facebook ads to
recruit test subjects, which is a convenient method, but also one that
distorts the numbers, as people who feel sick are likely to self-select
into such a study in order to get tested.

Third: mistaking correlation for causation. There were endless speculations about which countries did “best” in tackling the pandemic.
It is tempting to gaze at the figures and come up with some facile
explanation for the differences. Some have claimed masks are the
solution, others that we should all have robust contact-tracing like
South Korea or a laissez-faire approach like Sweden. But there is no
silver-bullet solution. Countries have different testing strategies,
different demographics, different healthcare systems. And some countries
simply had more luck, as the pandemic knocked on their door later and
gave them more time to prepare. How countries fared probably depends on a
complex interaction of many factors, which will take years to
disentangle.

So how can we make sense of this crisis? Obviously, numeracy helps.

Who Will Benefit from a Successful Chinese COVID-19 Vaccine?

Who Will Benefit from a Successful Chinese COVID-19 Vaccine? There seems to be little doubt, then, that China could be among the
countries that first produces a successful vaccine for COVID-19. There
are several issues before large-scale benefits will accrue globally. Can
China produce sufficient doses for its domestic use and for other
countries? Which countries are likely to benefit?

Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection & School than about Work & Paying the Mortgage

Parents are 5X as Worried about Infection & School than about Work & Paying the Mortgage: Quick Facts: Worries across schooling, safety & finances

We polled 1,000 parents in the US and asked them what their biggest worry was amidst the pandemic.
35% of parents are most worried about a family virus infection.
Just 10.5% of parents listed “finding work” or “paying the mortgage” as their top worry.
Getting kids to school safely was almost twice as important to survey participants than the economic concerns.
Almost a third of parents we polled aren’t worried about the pandemic at all.

Apple aprova versão de testes da Stayaway Covid

Apple aprova versão de testes da Stayaway Covid. App ainda sem data de lançamento: A Apple aprovou, nesta quarta-feira, a realização de testes alargados
da aplicação Stayaway Covid. A luz verde dada pela tecnológica
americana, cocriadora do sistema de rastreio de contactos de proximidade
de infetados pelo coronavírus conhecido como GAEN,
em conjunto com a Google, permite que os utilizadores de iPhone que se
inscreveram para o teste-piloto possam usar a aplicação através da
ferramenta TestFlight, que permite a utilização de aplicações ainda em
desenvolvimento.






Mas a aprovação da Apple chega quase uma semana depois de já ter
terminado o teste-piloto – decorreu entre 17 de julho e 7 de agosto –
organizado pelo INESCT TEC, que está responsável pelo desenvolvimento da
aplicação. Contactado pela Exame Informática, o instituto
garante que o teste-piloto está encerrado e que não haverá um novo
teste-piloto que englobe os utilizadores de smartphones com iOS.