COVID-19 Pool Testing Is a Stopgap Measure To Track and Curb the Pandemic
It could quickly amplify coronavirus testing by tenfold.
Epidemiology
CDC Antibody Studies Confirm Huge Gap Between COVID-19 Infections and Known Cases
The difference implies that the virus is much less deadly than it looks, but it also makes contact tracing a daunting challenge.
New York's Pandemic-Inspired Restrictions on Church and Synagogue Services Are Unconstitutional, a Federal Judge Rules
U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe finds that the state's COVID-19 control measures arbitrarily discriminate against religious conduct.
As COVID-19 Infections Rise, Patients Are Getting Younger
The trend, which may reflect growing defiance of social distancing in some age groups, implies a lower death rate.
Daily COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S. Have Fallen Dramatically Since April
The downward trend continued after states began lifting their lockdowns.
What Do Recent COVID-19 Trends Tell Us About the Merits of Lockdowns?
New infections are down nationwide but rising in some places as people rebel against government-recommended precautions.
Another Judge Rules That Ohio's COVID-19 Lockdown Is Illegal
The decision says the "unbridled and unfettered consolidation of authority in one unelected official" violates due process and the separation of powers.
Mask Wearing Correlates Strongly with Declining COVID-19 Transmission, Says New Study
Airborne transmission is the dominant route for the spread of COVID-19.
Wearing Masks Is an Effective Way to Control the COVID-19 Pandemic, Says New Study
"My mask protects you, your mask protects me"
Did the Lockdowns Save Thousands of Lives? A Soho Forum Debate
Physician Marty Makary vs. epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski on whether "the lockdown saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives."
Were the Lockdowns a Mistake? A Soho Forum Debate
Physician Marty Makary vs. epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski on whether "the lockdown saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives."
Lockdown Supporters Embraced Wildly Wrong COVID-19 Projections That Fit Their Preconceptions
The episode illustrates the perils of confirmation bias on both sides of the debate about disease control measures.
Virus Transmission Estimates Provide More Evidence That COVID-19 Lockdowns Are Overrated
Two models suggest that broad restrictions had less impact on the epidemic than commonly thought.
John Roberts Does Not Think California's Special Restrictions on Religious Services Discriminate Against Churches
As SCOTUS declines to issue an injunction, the chief justice says the state's COVID-19 control measures seem consistent with the First Amendment.
To Really Reopen the Economy, At-Home Diagnostic COVID-19 Tests Are Our Best Bet
Making cheap tests widely available would go a long way toward crushing the pandemic.
As Lockdowns Are Lifted, Is the COVID-19 Reproductive Number Rising or Falling?
Two models generate strikingly different estimates.
Do Pandemic-Inspired Bans on Religious Services Violate the First Amendment? Circuit Courts Are Split.
Supreme Court precedent suggests COVID-19 restrictions that discriminate against churches are presumptively unconstitutional.
A Middle Course Between COVID-19 Hopes and Fears
Control measures should be based on emerging evidence about the danger posed by the virus.
The CDC's New 'Best Estimate' Implies a COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate Below 0.3%
That rate is much lower than the numbers used in the horrifying projections that shaped the government response to the epidemic.
How Much Credit Should Lockdowns Get for Reducing COVID-19 Transmission?
All of it, The New York Times assumes.
COVID-19 Herd Immunity Is 'Still Very Far Away'
Studies from several countries find low infection rates.
The CDC Is Still Botching the Coronavirus Testing Process
The disease control agency is a poster child for bureaucratic incompetence.
Ohio Judge Deems the State's COVID-19 Lockdown 'Arbitrary, Unreasonable, and Oppressive'
The ruling says the state's top health official exceeded her statutory authority by ordering "nonessential" businesses to close.
The New York Times Recoils at the Predictable Consequences of the Mandatory COVID-19 Precautions It Supports
When mask-wearing and social distancing rules are legally enforceable, the potential for violence cannot be avoided.
A Pandemic Does Not Suspend the Rule of Law
Courts are beginning to recognize that public health powers, while broad, are not a blank check.
Nancy Pelosi Uses COVID-19 As an Excuse to Call Donald Trump a Big Fat Load
The president is always in her prayers.
Are We Seeing Irrational Exuberance Over COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine News?
Stocks rise steeply on good news about mRNA vaccines.
Do the Divergent Results of COVID-19 Antibody Studies Reflect Real Differences?
The infection fatality rate probably varies from one place to another.
Americans Are Isolating Themselves Less, but That Doesn't Mean They Are Abandoning COVID-19 Precautions
Sensible social distancing does not require staying in your house.
What's the Herd Immunity Threshold for the COVID-19 Coronavirus?
Estimates range from 70 to 10 percent.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Says the State's COVID-19 Lockdown Violated the Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers
A seemingly arcane dispute about administrative law has profound implications for the limits of public health authority.
Coronavirus Has Infected 2.8 Percent of Hoosiers, Says New Study
The infection-fatality rate for COVID-19 in Indiana is 0.58 percent, nearly six times worse than seasonal flu.
Lockdown Lawsuits Ask How Long a Public Health Emergency Can Last
An Illinois resident obtained a TRO by citing a 30-day limit, while a New Hampshire hair salon owner says the goal of her state's lockdown has been achieved.
Quarantine Fatigue and the Social End to the Coronavirus Pandemic
What might learning to live with COVID-19 look like?
Does Questioning Official COVID-19 Statistics Make This Doctor a 'Denialist'?
If you think much about the epidemic remains uncertain, The New York Times warns, you might be part of "the virus 'truther' movement."
Were the COVID-19 Lockdowns a Mistake?
Andrew I. Friedson says they flattened the curve. Lyman Stone disagrees.
Andrew Cuomo's Morally Grotesque Rationale for Maintaining COVID-19 Lockdowns
Even the president is a better moral philosopher than New York's governor.
Supreme Court Justices in Texas and Pennsylvania Emphasize That COVID-19 Lockdowns Require Judicial Scrutiny
Not everything that states do in the name of protecting public health is consistent with the Constitution.
When Are COVID-19 Control Measures 'Arbitrary' and 'Unreasonable'?
Courts so far have not been inclined to ask that question.
8 Possible Reasons for the Huge International Differences in COVID-19 Deaths
For each plausible theory, there are puzzling counterexamples.
Seemingly Small Differences in the Accuracy of COVID-19 Antibody Tests Can Make a Big Practical Difference
When infection prevalence is low, a test with relatively low specificity can generate highly misleading results.
The Pandemic Has Produced a Radical Experiment in Federalism
Varying state responses will provide the thing we need most right now: information.
What 'Excess Deaths' Do and Don't Tell Us About COVID-19
While official death tolls clearly underestimate the epidemic's impact, total mortality numbers can be misleading.
Miami-Dade Antibody Tests Suggest Local COVID-19 Infections Exceed Confirmed Cases by a Factor of 16
The preliminary results imply an infection fatality rate of 0.2 percent, similar to estimates from two California studies.
Will Summer's Heat, Humidity, and Sunlight Help Us Slow COVID-19?
Lab testing and epidemiology suggest a dog days reprieve could happen.
It's Not Fake News: Trump Did Actually Suggest That Injecting Bleach Could Be a Cure for COVID-19
The president added that the procedure is something "you're going to have to use medical doctors with."
California Coronavirus Antibody Studies Likely Wrong That 12.4 Million of New York City's 8.4 Million Residents Have Already Been Infected With the Virus
California and New York coronavirus infection rate estimates differ substantially.
What Explains the Difference Between Estimated COVID-19 Fatality Rates in New York and California?
Are the California numbers wildly off, or is New York different in important ways?
