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Author: jwelcome

China and the Coronavirus: A Timeline

Even the playgrounds are all shut down.Kevin Drum For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis and more, subscribe to Mother Jones’ newsletters.A few days ago I got curious about the notion that China has been a bad actor in the coronavirus saga. Like most of us, I was paying only vague attention back in December…

Coronavirus Growth in Western Countries: April 11 Update

Here’s the coronavirus growth rate through April 11. Germany showed a big decline today in its daily death rate, but they also reported fewer cumulative deaths than yesterday. I suspect a reporting error. Italy hiccuped, but hopefully is still on a downward trend. Spain is declining. Canada, as always, remains teacher’s pet. And the United…

I Have a Question About “Flattening the Curve”

I’m puzzled by something. A few weeks ago, before we had adopted any social distancing measures, the COVID-19 models suggested that we’d hit a peak of 5,000+ deaths per day sometime in late April or early May. Then, in mid-March, we started adopting countermeasures. Famously, these countermeasures were supposed to “flatten the curve.” As you…