Nine areas of data we need to manage the pandemic
Will we ever get control of this pandemic? We can, but better data will go a long way in helping us get there. Here are nine areas where I’d like to see improvement.
Read MoreTag: reader questions
Interpreting limited data in our undercounted surge
There’s no sugarcoating it: we are in an extremely confusing and frustrating phase of the pandemic. We see the rising (yet undercounted) case numbers, we hear from friends and family members who have recently tested positive. And yet the CDC’s official COVID-19 guidance is still based on a mostly-green map, while local leaders refuse to reinstate mask mandates or other safety measures.
Read MoreAnswering reader questions: Encouraging policy changes
In this post, I’m answering reader questions about how individuals can impact COVID-19 policies. Such questions feel particularly pertinent this week, as leaders of several states loosen up on mask mandates and other COVID-19 safety measures.
Read MoreReader question: How long will COVID-19 restrictions continue?
A couple of weeks ago, I received a reader question from a friend of mine who recently got engaged! He and his fiancée are planning a wedding in summer 2023, and he asked me: “How likely do you think it is that (1) the COVID-19 pandemic remains a serious danger to our safety in the summer of 2023 and (2) the government still has the energy to keep enforcing COVID-19 restrictions?”
Read MoreThinking about COVID-19 risk as winter approaches
I recently received a question from a COVID-19 Data Dispatch reader that followed a similar theme to many questions that readers, friends, and family members have asked me in the past few months. The question essentially outlined an event in the reader’s personal life that they’d been invited to attend, and asked for my advice: should they go? How risky was this event?
Read MoreSend me your holiday COVID-19 questions
This year, the risk of spreading COVID-19 at a holiday gathering is still present—but for many gatherings, it’s much more manageable thanks to vaccines. Still, there’s a lot of potential uncertainty involved in planning gatherings this winter
Read More12 Long COVID stats that demonstrate the importance of vaccination
Though it’s now been well over a year since the first Long COVID patients were infected, there is still so much we don’t know about the condition. For example, we don’t know a very rudimentary number: how many people in the U.S. are struggling with Long COVID. We also don’t have a clear, detailed picture of Long COVID symptoms, or how these symptoms arise from a coronavirus infection, or how they impact the daily lives of Long COVID patients.
Read MoreAnswering readers’ COVID-19 questions
On Nov. 1, 2020, I ran a Q&A thread on Substack in order to answer readers’ questions in the lead-up to the U.S. election. Here are a couple of the questions.
Read MoreHow many COVID-19 cases are actively circulating in your community?
This section was inspired by a question my friend Abby messaged me yesterday. She asked:
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