.
William Hanage
Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Expertise: Epidemiology, Infectious diseases
Details:
ARTICLES REVIEWED
Misleading Wall Street Journal opinion piece makes the unsubstantiated claim that the U.S. will have herd immunity by April 2021
in Wall Street Journal, by Marty Makary
— 26 Feb 2021
"The article’s claim that the U.S. is near herd immunity rests on two numbers: 1) the detection of infections by testing (claimed to be 10 – 25 percent) and 2) the infection fa..
Telegraph article describing the hypothesis that face masks can variolate a population receives mixed reviews on its scientific accuracy
in The Telegraph, by Georgina Hayes
— 24 Sep 2020
"The Telegraph headline is obviously misleading but the subheading is accurate. Masks don’t give immunity; rather, the argument is that infections are milder or asymptomatic and ..
CLAIMS REVIEWED
New York Magazine article on children’s risks from COVID-19 is accurate, but more context regarding difference in risk between young and older children would be helpful
CLAIM
In children, “the mortality risk from COVID-19 is actually lower than from the flu. The risk of severe disease or hospitalization is about the same”.
SOURCE: David Wallace-Wells, New York Magazine
Published: 09 Aug 2021
VERDICT
Asymptomatic and presymptomatic people can spread COVID-19
CLAIM
asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 never occurs
SOURCE: Jeffrey A. Tucker, American Institute for Economic Research, The Last Refuge
Published: 04 Jan 2021
VERDICT
