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Media: It’s Not That Hard. Do the Numbers!
By Shlomo Maital
The print and TV media are letting us down. CNN publishes daily counts of COVID-19 cases, worldwide and in New York and other states.
So?
What do the numbers mean?
OK – here are the numbers for Israel, total cases, every two days…and the daily rate of change. The start date is March 24, the final date is April 9. Today.
| 2690 | 19.7 % |
| 3619 | 17.3 |
| 4695 | 14.9 |
| 6092 | 14.9 |
| 7428 | 11.0 |
| 8430 | 6.7 |
| 9248 | 4.9 |
| 9755 | 2.7 |
Remember my blog, Rule of 72? Divide 72 by the daily % change, you get the number of days it takes for COVID-19 cases to double. On March 24, doubling every 3.5 days. Ouch. By April 9, doubling every 24 days, roughly.
Why? Pretty severe police-enforced lockdown, including the night of Passover. It works.
CNN, media: Show us the % change, daily. Show us the rule of 72 – days to double. And show us the trend.
It’s not rocket science! It’s just percentages and compound interest.
TIMnovate 