18/n It's also worth noting that the idea that nosocomial infections are AVOIDABLE in a pandemic is perhaps not entirely reasonable, given the burden that it places on the healthcare system more broadly
-
-
29/n For example, from a GLOBAL perspective, I think that there may certainly be places in which heavy long-term restrictions do not make that much sense
Show this thread -
30/n Nigeria, for example, has a median age of 18 years. Less than 10% of the population is over 55. Given how much lower the risk is for younger people, harsher restrictions may not make as much sensehttps://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.23.20160895v6 …
Show this thread -
31/n Conversely, the U.S. has a much older population, on average, and thus is at far greater risk from COVID-19 generally
Show this thread -
32/n That being said, this piece appears to use inappropriate evidence, misleading comparisons, and generally underestimate the risk/impact of COVID-19, which makes it problematic as a resource
Show this thread -
33/n As one final example, the author makes this statement in the conclusion, that measures taken to halt the pandemic are essentially destroying the world The reference? His own opinion piece in the Boston Readerpic.twitter.com/yUsFmyAWEO
Show this thread -
34/n I just checked, and Ioannidis cites himself 8 times in this paper, with 4 of those references being media or commentary articles
Show this thread -
35/n Oh also, on another note, given the relatively few meta-studies on COVID-19 IFR, it appears that the authors that Ioannidis here describes as "inexperienced" and "overtly wrong" are me and
@LeaMerone Academic civility!pic.twitter.com/CRV0VElQfh
Show this thread -
36/n I should also note - some people have pointed out that the actual numbers in this review are almost certainly inaccurate (e.g. 1.5 mil COVID-19 deaths over 5 years is probably impossible) but I have not focused on the numbers themselves...
Show this thread -
37/n ...thing is, the numbers are largely a result of the assumptions. If you extrapolate out an assumed incorrectly low death rate then you'll find the numbers are low Therefore, I focused on the assumptions, because the numbers themselves are just a consequence of these
Show this thread -
38/n That being said, it is absolutely worth pointing out that some of these figures that the paper has postulated as reasonable are extraordinarily unlikely and show how the errors have caused a misleading result (remember, this is globally over 5 years!)pic.twitter.com/GoFDd6x2Rn
Show this thread -
39/n Also, because a lot of people seem confused about this point - here is why it is nonsense to suggest that because people may have had a comorbidity that COVID-19 didn't kill themhttps://medium.com/@gidmk/covid-19-deaths-are-mostly-caused-by-coronavirus-2a6d2d43bd09 …
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.