Considering the adage Knowledge is Power, I think it might be helpful to provide a collection of web links about the Corona virus/COVID-19 that could help our FineTunedMac community assess and better understand the current pandemic, and what it means to them and the various other communities they’re part of.

It can also help dispel rather ubiquitous mis- and disinformation on the topic. In addition to this, the current pandemic offers new opportunities for various malfeasants targeting those looking for information on the internet. One example is described HERE, but I’m sure there are many others. Be careful out there!

To get you going, here are a few links I found quite useful:

- Coronavirus articles on Medium* made available freely by Medium
- Coronavirus information page compiled by MacInTouch/Ric Ford
- Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state by The Guardian
- Hour by hour: the spread of the coronavirus across the globe. Interactive map by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

*) A particularly helpful overview is Tomas Pueyo’s Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now. This has been updated at least once, and may be again.

**) I cannot guarantee that there is no bad info in the above links, but they are well curated. Please use your common sense and check multiple reputable sources for verification.

Note that
(1) most of these pages are updated regularly, so it pays to check back, and
(2) they are currently freely accessible, i.e., not behind a paywall.

Thanks for posting those sites. Very informative and better than anything coming out of DC these days.

There is a statistic missing however. While the absolute number of infections and deaths is interesting, the RATE OF INFECTION (infections per say 100,000 population) and the RATE OF DEATH as well as the RATE and VECTOR of change in those numbers would tell far more about progress in containing and managing the infections. On the other hand it is a given that the absolute numbers in many countries are questionable if not outright bogus. (That is not a criticism of the reporting sites, it is a commentary on governments that might mis-report to hide of deny the true facts.)

The biggest problem with that statistic is the number of infected people, which determines the other variables you mention. Accuracy here requires for everyone to be tested, because many of those infected only show minor symptoms. This makes all available numbers everywhere iffy, even without resorting to ‘massaging’ the data some governments are suspected of.

Right now, such wholesale testing is not going to happen, but the actual number of infected people may be estimated after the fact, e.g., by determining anti-COVID-19 antibody presence in the population. The underlying mechanism is that whomever has been exposed to COVID-19 produced antibodies to the virus, regardless of their symptoms. (This may actually be more accurate than the COVID-19 test data, because people may get infected after having that test, and hence not be counted there.) In the case of SARS1 (COVID-19 = SARS2), such antibodies are readily detected even now, almost 2 decades after the 2003 outbreak. Of course, it requires another test, while yet other population measurements during/after the current pandemic may be accurate enough for such estimates, as well as for other purposes.

With regard to the other part of the RATE equations, the number of dead is more obvious, but also dependent on the medical characteristics of the target group, as well as on timely available medical care, both major variables. We’ll learn a lot about those in the near future, but it will take a while.

And for Canada: Coronavirus Updates

Keep in mind:
• Never take medical advice from politicians.
• Every time the American Shmuck in Chief opens his mouth re coronavirus, he's lying.

Read it and weep:

Before Virus Outbreak, a Cascade of Warnings Went Unheeded

Government exercises, including one last year, made clear that the US was not ready for a pandemic like the coronavirus. But little was done.

Just remember – as I have oft noted – that this Andromeda strain is merely Gaia's way of thinning the herd to improve living conditions ... but it's not doing it in a maximally efficient fashion. More virulence!

100% accuracy is neither feasible or required. Only a statistically valid random testing is necessary. At the present time in most of this country there are only enough tests available for those who are showing a specific symptomology and/or are in high risk groups. So any statistics are heavily biased in favor of being infected.

I agree, and realize I should have phrased that better. That said, it’s not yet clear what the optimal requirements for a statistically valid random test should be, given the unknowns of COVID-19, but at this stage any new data improves upon what we’ve got. And what we’ve got can be compared to a mountain island, representing the known/tested infected, with the snowy peak the deceased, and the larger submerged base the unknown infected.

More info, now from The Atlantic, and free from their paywall: What You Need to Know About the Coronavirus

And on a lighter note: The Coronavirus Toilet Paper Calculator (be sure to check out the advanced options!)

From the Visual Capitalist, the seven best COVID resources they've discovered so far.

And, on a hopeful note, I just watched a news item with a 102 year old Italian woman who has recovered from COVID. On doing a DuckDuckGo search, I found there was also an 86 year old woman and a 101 year old man who recovered from it.

We'll be eating a lot more spaghetti and guzzling plenty of Ruffino.

And guzzling is all you can do with ruffino and most chiantis.

Now if you want to savor, try Nebbiolo, Nero d'Avola, Amarone, Barolo, Brunello, any Super Tuscan, etc.

Seattle Is Living Your Coronavirus Future

Among other things ...
President Trump’s talk of opening the United States for business by Easter is greeted in this precinct of sanity as the heartless bluster of a career con man. The public radio station in Seattle, KUOW, has stopped airing Trump’s live briefings because the volume of misinformation he puts out cannot be corrected in real time.

In a different vein: Stacks of Urns in Wuhan Prompt New Questions of Virus’s Toll

The interesting thing about this article is that 2 months or so ago I saw an article in which someone who claimed to have had info from people in Wuhan said that they had already cremated 50,000 bodies.

And, in another different vein, it seems the other big pandemic The Black Death involved social distancing.

Indeed. Death is the ultimate social distancer.