Hi Bruce, yes, agree one has to be careful when working with lots of correlated factors. However, correlations, when treated as such, allow us to have good conversations. And there are varying degrees of dependence between the variables. As with machine learning, dependence helps us learn about potential causalities. There’s a lot of buzz about one potential causality right now regarding the BCG vaccine… seems like people vaccinated with BCG have a 10-100x lower COVID-19 incidence. Rich countries stopped getting this vaccine (for TB) years ago. Interesting, but like you say, could be just correlated with some other factors.

Nice! Agree. Mobility has to be part of it. Yes, Milan is the largest outpost of ethnic Chinese (per capita?) outside China I read…

Wealthy people are some of the most densely concentrated populations across the world. Look at places like London and Manhattan. “Rich” people are packed in tightly. They also tend to be highly networked and socialize extensively. The highest rate in the Dallas Fort Worth metro area is the zip code 75225. Again, high wealth and highest density. This really looks like a exposure issue, with a health care system unprepared to treat it, and bad data from the biggest players.

This really looks