If the coronavirus is really airborne, we might be fighting it the wrong way

Whether the virus is airborne isn’t simply a scientific question. If it is, it could mean that in places where the virus has not been properly contained (e.g., the US), the economy needs to be reopened more slowly, under tighter regulations that reinforce current health practices as well as introducing improved ones.

Life as a contact tracer

The main job is to contact people who have been exposed to the coronavirus by a person who has tested positive. Some people are a little suspicious. Some people hang up after I ask for their date of birth and address. I understand that, the mistrust of the government, having grown up under communism.

A guide to negotiating a covid 'bubble' with other people

In some places, “double-bubbling” is becoming official policy: households are being encouraged to buddy up for the sake of variety and mental health. But negotiating to become part of someone else’s intimate circle in the midst of a pandemic is fraught with dangers both medical (what if you inadvertently infect one another?) and social. (What if you have a falling out? Whom do you pick? What if they don’t pick you?).

The US already has the technology to test millions of people a day

There is widespread agreement that the only way to safely reopen the economy is through a massive increase in testing. Tests for mass screening may have different requirements and characteristics from the tests run in clinical labs today that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. So what might a solution look like?

This is what it will take to get us back outside

Realistic analysis of how we will emerge from the Covi-19 pandemic, what to expect, how long it will take us to realistically develop a vaccine and efforts leading us to a vaccine. How long do we have to live with social distancing?

The tricky math of lifting coronavirus lockdowns

Researchers are using mobility data prior to the lockdown, and comparing it to the current mobility numbers to determine how to emerge from the lockdown without triggering major resurgence in the outbreak. The researchers admit that their conclusions are highly uncertain and more data is needed.