Here's a short list of things we do and don't yet know about #COVID19.
1. We don't yet know the true case fatality rate. (E.g.: if you catch it, how likely are you to die?)

Scientists agree that the CDC's #s are likely underestimates; but it's AT LEAST 4x more deadly than the flu, if infected; & will infect far more ppl. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2766121
2. We don't yet know *exactly* how it's transmitted. Definitely by droplets. But maybe aerosols? Maybe fomites?

----> For now: best practice in the non-healthcare setting is mask, distance, and hand-washing

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0522-cdc-updates-covid-transmission.html
3. We don't fully understand why & how it causes a wide variety of clinical syndromes. For example, although we have growing clinical knowledge, the new multi-inflammatory syndrome observed in kids is very much a black box. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcp2009575
4. Relatedly, we don't know what works to treat #COVID19.

Remdesivir may decrease hospitalizations.
Proning may decrease intubations.
Hydroxycholoroquine WORSENS outcomes.
Plasma from recovered pts: Maybe.

That's all we've got, folks. Still waiting on 100s of ongoing trials.
5. We are not totally sure about the efficacy of those home-made masks.

We know that masks work, period. But what kind of fabric masks work, for whom, at what distance? Still TBD.

(Wear them! But don't feel immune.)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7185834/
7. We don't know how long people are infectious. https://twitter.com/tmprowell/status/1263647206432702465
OK, now for a short list of things we DO know:
2. And if we can increase (b), (c), and (d) .... then (a) #SocialDistancing is not so necessary.

WITHOUT these standard #publichealth measures, we'll see new hot-spots emerge, watch infections & deaths balloon, & will be right back where we were in mid-March in the US.
3. We also know that if you're close to someone who's infected, inside, for a period of time, you too have a high risk of infection.

And... 1 selfish person, who goes out & about when ill, can get a lot of other people really sick :( https://twitter.com/meganranney/status/1262859388383084544
(....that's essentially it, folks. That's what we KNOW about the virus, its transmission, and its prevention.)
So where does that leave us?

1) Keep doing & funding science.
2) Insist that state & federal gov'ts increase testing so you can go back to work
3) Fund #Publichealth infrastructure
4) Until then... maintain masks & social distancing to keep yourself *and your community* safe
You can follow @meganranney.
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