CATEGORY / epidemiology

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)

I can’t believe I have to talk about this. But I do. And I’ll try to make it quick.

My frustration with the COVID-denial narrative is palpable. Today I tweeted my quick take on their standard playbook:

I’ve tackled many, if not all, of these weak claims right here on this blog. I’m quite tired of talking about them, quite tired of having to convince people that a real thing is a real thing. I expected that my time would be most valued explaining some of the science underpinning the phenomenon we are presently experiencing, and not having to argue with strangers over basic logical fallacies. (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)

Well, 2020 is almost over, and of course COVID-19 throws us another curve ball to round out the year. The “new variant” that now dominates the news has arrived in Canada. Because I’ve had several media requests to comment on this development, let’s take a moment to take stock of what we know about this variant and what it might mean for our efforts to combat the epidemic.

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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)

So, there is a prevalent claim that the COVID-19 cases being logged all across the world are horrendously overestimated, due to the hypersensitivity of the PCR test. Essentially, they state that what we are seeing is a “casedemic” and that there is no “second wave” and no pandemic at all. (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)

Revel in the miracle, my friends. And make no mistake: it is a miracle. Yes, it’s a human-fabricated miracle, but the arrival of efficacious vaccines against COVID-19 in less than a year since the declaration of pandemic is nothing short of a stupendous and near-supernatural achievement. I fully expect a few Nobel Prize nominations to come from this endeavour, and they will be well deserved.

Unsurprisingly, almost all the media questions I’ve been getting these past few days have concerned the vaccine. And while I think most people are pretty clear on what’s going on, I thought I would summarize some of the key points in this post.

So here we go.

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