How to understand COVID-19 numbers

OG readers may remember that, in my first issue, I praised a ProPublica article by Caroline Chen and Ash Ngu which explains how to navigate and interpret COVID-19 data. I was inspired by that article to write a similar piece for Stacker: “How to understand COVID-19 case counts, positivity rates, and other numbers.”

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Which COVID numbers you should pay attention to, actually

My last big story for this week is to heavily recommend this ProPublica feature by Caroline Chen and Ash Ngu on how to navigate COVID-19 data. Chen is a veteran health journalist who has been reporting on COVID-19 since January (and who reported on previous disease outbreaks before that). Her story explains how to understand test positivity rates, data lags, and the inherent uncertainty that comes with any attempt to quantify this pandemic.

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