by Raywat Deonandan, PhD
Epidemiologist & Associate Professor
University of Ottawa
(I add my credentials to these COVID-19 blog posts in case they get shared. I want readers to know that my opinion is supposedly an educated and informed one)

You know, I teach this stuff for a living. And every year, when it comes time to teach my students how epidemiologists assess the quality of diagnostic tests, I have a tiny panic attack, since it can be so very confusing, and therefore quite challenging to explain to others how it works. (more…)

by Raywat Deonandan, PhD
Epidemiologist & Associate Professor
University of Ottawa
(I add my credentials to these COVID-19 blog posts in case they get shared. I want readers to know that my opinion is supposedly an educated and informed one)

A lovely thing manifested from the awfulness of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the horrors of daily death in Italy and Spain, residents confined to their homes would take to their balconies every night to applaud their heroes, the health care workers. The practice caught on around the world. In many Canadian cities, each night at dusk, grateful citizens bang pots and raise a toast to all essential workers. It’s a reminder that in the early phase of this emergency, it was doctors and nurses who held the front line, putting their bodies and families at risk to keep the rest of us safe. (more…)