What This Chart Actually Means for COVID-19 (New Video) (Patreon)

Hey smart people. We're living in unprecedented times (at least in our lifetimes), eh? Never thought we'd spend 2020 facing an invisible global challenge in the form of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

My new video explains why we need to act quickly and drastically to slow the spread, or else this could get even worse. Thank you to everyone who has shared it already, before I even had time to write this post. I'm blown away by how many people have seen it, and in so many different countries. So many of you have translated the captions into other languages. Thank you! Here's a link if you'd like to translate it into your language. I'm hearing feedback from around the world about how this has helped spur people into action to stay home, practice social distancing, and of course wash their hands. 

Because on day 1, no one you know is sick. It feels like a normal day. It may stay like this for a long time, until one day, a few people you know are sick. And suddenly a few days later, it will seem like everyone is sick, and it will feel like it happened instantly. Everything looks fine, until it isn’t fine. 

This is the paradox of pandemics, and it’s why with an outbreak like COVID-19 you hear health officials calling for huge, drastic, and rapid responses in the early days when infection numbers are still relatively small. 

Some people worry these actions are over-reactions. Media sensationalism. All too much, for something that isn’t even a big deal yet.

But this way of thinking fails to appreciate how disease outbreaks work: It was really never fine to begin with, but we don’t notice until it’s too late.

Stay safe! And stay curious.