I liked this article because it is a very measured and reasonable analysis, which has been very hard to come by in the last few weeks. The author goes into grea

I liked this article because it is a very measured and reasonable analysis, which has been very hard to come by in the last few weeks. The author goes into great detail about why/ how the numbers about the 1918 'Spanish' flu have been misconstrued, and therefore, why the 'CFR' numbers being parroted by everyone should not be trusted either. The closing paragraph encapsulates the point nicely. Numbers and charts convey a reassuring sense of certainty. But in the midst of an evolving crisis, that certainty is too often an illusion. A single, imprecise statistic generated more than a decade ago can suddenly proliferate, inciting panic and senseless hoarding that diverts resources from those who need them most. When experts and journalists uncritically pluck numbers from careless studies and clutch at fluctuating figures, hastily offering them up as beacons, they may do more to confuse than illuminate.