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Between Jackson Hole and Genova…

Posted by in Travel Nightmare

I’m not one to make a mountain out of a molehill, but getting back home from Jackson ruined what was an otherwise excellent trip. With no car at the moment, the journey over was somewhat laborious : a lift to the station; train from Genova to Milano; subway to the suburbs and an overnight stay with cousins; subway to Linate; flight to Munich; flight to Houston; Uber; workshop with Deloitte; Uber; flight to Denver; meet-up with Bill; flight to Jackson Hole. Jackson was glorious and productive. I left on Saturday…read more

Between NY and Vegas…

Posted by in Travel Nightmare

It’s been good to get back on the road. The last couple of weeks I’ve visited Génova, Milano, Frankfurt, Boston, Chicago, Albany, Saratoga Springs, New York, Frankfurt, Milan, Génova, Milano, London, Las Vegas, London, Milano, and Génova. Quite a trip. Things were going smoothly until I collected my car at the airport in Milan last Friday and headed home for the weekend. Thirty minutes later I was rear-ended by a young woman who had been distracted enough to miss the queue of stopped cars in front of her. I guess…read more

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Coronavirus : Update 23 from the Epicenter

Posted by in Coronavirus

The true numbers of Covid-19 deaths is continually questioned from both sides of the lockdown debate, with claims of rampant under and over reporting. Those who see governments’ reactions to the pandemic as exaggerated tend to claim that anyone dying with Covid-like symptoms is logged as a victim of the virus even in the absence of a positive test result and despite the severity of co-morbidities. They often go further and claim that hospitals are incentivized to keep Covid numbers high, due to the increased compensation they receive for coronavirus…read more

Coronavirus : Update 22 from the Epicenter

Posted by in Uncategorized

OK, so the results are in on the world’s clinical trial testing the effectiveness of vitamin D3 on the outcome of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital. The study,  “Effect of Calcifediol Treatment and best Available Therapy versus best Available Therapy on Intensive Care Unit Admission and Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19: A Pilot Randomized Clinical study,” was published in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology on 29 August The trial involved only a small number (76) of consecutively admitted patients), however the procedures utilized were robust. Although this was…read more

Coronavirus : Update 21 from the Epicenter

Posted by in Coronavirus

Today I’m taking a look at why the United States Covid-19 death curve is following neither the same trajectory as most European countries, nor that of most South American countries. It seems to have the same initial peak as Italy, but then a post-peak surge that matches Brazil: So, what’s going on? Well, first it’s worth understanding why Italy and Brazil are on such different journeys. The figure below shows the 4 classic curves for Temperate and Tropical climates in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Italy obviously has a Northern…read more

Coronavirus : Update 20 from the Epicenter

Posted by in Coronavirus

It’s been more than 3 months since Update 19, and your experience over that time will depend on where you live. At the risk of generalizing, if you are in a relatively small European country with a strong central government that shut-down effectively then it’s likely that high infection rates were limited to one or two initial areas (Lombardy, Catalonia, Greater London), so you will have seen daily case numbers fall by >95% and stay low for several months : Whereas if you live in a large country with a…read more