The Italian patchwork

After the dreadful toll the pandemic took this spring, Italy has gradually managed to limit the spread of the virus. Recently, the country received wide acclaim for its approach. But the peninsula is not off the hook. Large regional differences exist. Seroprevalence data have been misinterpreted by the media. Herd immunity might have been acquired in an area of 42,000 people, 0.07% of Italy’s population.

Read more

What do Luxembourg, UAE and Bahrain have in common?

Well, for starters, they are not big countries. The United Arab Emirates are roughly the size of Austria, with little less than 10 million inhabitants. Luxembourg and Bahrain are outright small. Luxembourg has the fewest inhabitants (614,000), Bahrain the smallest territory (780 km2). But it is not size that unites them, nor their fiscal regime. So what is it?

Read more

A lower mortality rate: fact or artifact?

On June 29, the pandemic hit two milestones in one go: 10,000,000 infections and 500,000 deaths. Just 43 days later, the number of infections had also passed the 20 million mark. But while the positive cases had doubled, the death toll had only risen by 47%. Are we really looking at a decreasing mortality rate? Or is it merely a matter of more testing?

Read more