Contact tracing explained
Very useful video from math vlogger 3Blue1Brown: CNET also has an explainer as well.
Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Very useful video from math vlogger 3Blue1Brown: CNET also has an explainer as well.
That are the results from a recent Washington Post-ABC News survey. It is pretty dispiriting that only 71% of people will probably or definitely get a vaccine. Is this because people are not scared of COVID? No. In general, most people are concerned. 63% of people say they are very or somewhat worried that they…
The answer should be ‘yes’. From an economist’s perspective, prices for goods and services should generally be set at marginal cost unless there are externalities. In the case of COVID-19, there are clear externalities. By finding out that someone is COVID-19 positive, one could not only treat the patient (not an externality) but also the…
Kapoor et al. (2020) uses rainfall on last weekend before the stay-at-home order as an instrument for social distancing. variables. They find that social distancing works and has persistent effects, especially early on: We test whether earlier social distancing affects the progression of a local COVID-19 outbreak. We exploit county-level rainfall on the last weekend…
A very timely paper by my PRECISIONheor colleague Caroline Huber on the economic burden of Ebola in West Africa in 2014: Current estimates of the economic burden of the [2014 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD)] outbreak range from $2.8 to $32.6 billion in lost gross domestic product. We estimated the comprehensive economic and social…
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc for patients, family, the economy and the health care system. In an attempt to provide support to families and businesses, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act injects funding into the economy. Further, regulations have been relaxed. As Michael Adelberg and Melissa Garrido write today in the Health Affairs…
According to a working paper by Greenstone and Nigam (2020), the answer is a resounding yes! …we project that moderate social distancing would save 1.7 million lives between March 1 and October 1, with 630,000 due to avoided overwhelming of hospital intensive care units. Using the projected age-specific reductions in death and age-varying estimates of…
Looks like remdesivir had some positive results against COVID-19. As reported in STAT news: The preliminary data showed that the time to recovery was 11 days on remdesivir compared to 15 days for placebo, a 31% decrease. The mortality rate for the remdesivir group was 8%, compared to 11.6% for the placebo group; that mortality…
Treating serious cases of COVID-19 is expensive. Treatment may require ICU beds, ventilators and lots of specialized staff time. So clearly, COVID-19 is destroying health insurers bottom lines…isn’t it? Not according to a recent article by Kaiser Health News. Because of the quarantine, many individuals are delaying or foregoing elective surgeries. Of course, the costs…