Scientists model ‘true prevalence’ of COVID-19 throughout pandemic

Scientists have developed a statistical framework that incorporates key COVID-19 data to model the true prevalence of this disease in the U.S. Their approach projects that in the U.S. as many as 60% of COVID-19 cases went undetected as of March 7, 2021.

School Closures May Not Reduce Coronavirus Deaths as Much as Expected

School closures, the loss of public spaces, and having to work remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic have caused major disruptions in people’s lives all over the world. After running thousands of simulations of the pandemic response in New York City with variations in social distancing behavior, researchers suggest a reduction in fatal coronavirus cases can be achieved without the need for so much social disruption. They discuss the impacts of the closures of various types of facilities in the journal Chaos.

New York City’s Coronavirus Outbreak Spread from More European Sources Than First Reported

The COVID-19 pandemic started earlier than previously thought in New York City and Long Island by dozens of people infected mostly with strains from Europe. A new analysis also shows that most of the spread was within the community, as opposed to coming from people who had traveled.