reply with at least 200 words citation and references If you are like me, your day (still) begins and ends with seeking to get 'daily updates' on COVID-19. If you step back and examine how places li

reply with at least 200 words citation and references 

If you are like me, your day (still) begins and ends with seeking to get 'daily updates' on COVID-19. 

If you step back and examine how places like John Hopkins and Columbia are using daily infection & death rates, they are able to forecast the rate of infection and death (so far done predominantly by county). 

But, each forecast also has different underlying assumptions for infection--mostly driven by social distancing practices in place and how long social distancing has been in effect.

The articles are not always great at stating their underlying assumptions (which is a concern), but for you, the curious learner, is an important thing to realize. It makes you ask better questions of the data presented. The Daily Tracker and the interactive forecasting articleare especially interesting when you start to think about both from the statistics standpoint. 

There are currently 924,107 staffed hospital beds in the US (American Hospital Association, 2020). Occupancy rate of beds pre-Coronavirus was not found. The current US population is estimated to be approximately 329 million (United States Census Bureau, 2020). 

What do you think? What is your experience one year after this first began? 

References

American Hospital Association. (2020). Fast Facts on US Hospitals, 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.aha.org/statistics/fast-facts-us-hospitals

Katz, J., & Sanger-Katz, Margot. (2020, Mar 27). Coronavirus Deaths by US and Country Over Time: Daily Tracker. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/21/upshot/coronavirus-deaths-by-country.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200327&instance_id=17106&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=118790655&section=topNews&segment_id=23038&te=1&user_id=5d174fb18eb383bddb17f1b176b1eb00

Kristof, N. & Thompson, S. (2020, 27 Mar). Trump Wants to 'Reopen America.' Heres What Happens if We Do. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/25/opinion/coronavirus-trump-reopen-america.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200327&instance_id=17106&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=118790655&section=topNews&segment_id=23038&te=1&user_id=5d174fb18eb383bddb17f1b176b1eb00

United States Census Bereau. (2020). US and World Population Clock. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/popclock