In our Briefing this week, we revisit a topic we looked at a while ago, the epidemiology of gang activity in El Salvador, and look at the impact of Covid. Our spotlight is on: Oct 30 – Nov 27: Sample Size and Power Determination See you in class! Peter Bruce Founder, Author, and Senior ScientistContinue reading “Oct 20: Statistics in Practice”
Category Archives: Covid-19
Gangs and Covid
Clinical Trial Process that Validates Vaccines as Safe and Effective
When Probabilities Sum to More than One
Density
Tracking Your Wanderings, for the Public Good
Sensitivity and Specificity
COVID-19: Sensitivity, Specificity, and More
R0 (R-nought)
Coronavirus Death Toll
Covid-19 Parameters
There are many moving parts in modeling the spread of an epidemic, a subject that has lately attracted the attention of great numbers of statistically-oriented non-epidemiologists (like me). I’ve put together a “lay statistician’s guide” to some of the important parameters and factors (and I welcome corrections/additions!). Terms Case fatality rate or CFR: Deaths asContinue reading “Covid-19 Parameters”
Preliminary Paper
Here is a preliminary paper that suggests that RNA extraction kits, one of the main bottlenecks to Covid-19 testing in the US, can be skipped altogether and the next part of the assay (RT-qPCR) still works. If confirmed, this result would have a major impact on how many tests state and hospital labs could runContinue reading “Preliminary Paper”
Coronavirus – in Search of the Elusive Denominator
Anyone with internet access these days has their eyes on two constellations of data – the spread of the coronavirus, and the resulting collapse of the financial markets. Following the 13% one-day drop of the stock market a week ago, The Wall Street Journal forecast a quarterly GDP drop of as much as 10% –Continue reading “Coronavirus – in Search of the Elusive Denominator”
Coronavirus: To Test or Not to Test
In recent years, under the influence of statisticians, the medical profession has dialed back on screening tests. With relatively rare conditions, widespread testing yields many false positives and doctor visits, whose collective cost can outweigh benefits. Coronavirus advice follows this line – testing is limited to the truly ill (this is also due to aContinue reading “Coronavirus: To Test or Not to Test”