04/17/20: Europe update (925,346 cases)
I’m Nick and this is your European COVID-19 update. All data from JHU CCSE
Important announcement (repeated for those who missed it the first time)
This data is not longer very interesting. Here’s why.
When the COVID-19 pandemic was in its early days, data on the number of confirmed cases was both informative and important. It was important, because it allowed us to become aware that we were facing a real problem and it was informative because it gave us insight into the potential scale of that problem.
Those days are past.
The entire world is now on lockdown, and our attention has shifted to questions such as “when and how will we come out of lockdown?”, “how long until we have an antiviral treatment?” and “What will be the economic impact of this crisis?”.
With rising suspicions that the R0 (infection rate) of SARS-NCoV-2 may be higher than initially expected, and the sheer shortages of testing kits, data on the number of confirmed cases now is a better indicator of how many people we’ve been able to test, than it is of the actual number of cases within the population.
Considering these observations, I’m not certain that tracking the number of confirmed cases is any longer of much use. Rather, our attention should shift to what’s next and to preparing ourselves for potential longterm changes to our lifestyle, our way of working and the very organisation of our economies.
It is for these reasons, that I think this data is no longer very interesting. Having said that, I will keep the mobile dashboard alive and will keep sending out emails. But there will be a few changes:
The dashboard will keep updating as long as JHU CCSE keeps updating their dataset, but it will not undergo any further developments
These emails will become fully automated (don’t worry you will still be able to unsubscribe)
What’s next?
Although I am extremely fortunate (I live in Singapore, and need not fear for my livelihood or income), the current situation has uprooted many of my plans for the near future. While I regroup, I’m mostly focused on contributing to startups that I believe might have a positive impact in the current situation, and on helping out non-technical founders who are unsure how to move forward through his crisis. It’s rewarding work that makes me feel I can make a difference - no matter how small.
For the coming months, that is where I will invest most of my time.
I hope that this newsletter has been useful to you, and please don’t hesitate to reach out to me on twitter if I can ever be of any help to you in Singapore or the larger ASEAN region.
Stay safe, and please be kind🥰
All the best
Nikolaj
Europe
Most heavily affected countries
That’s it for today! Wash your hands and, please, be kind 🥰
Nick (from Sunny Singapore)