Thread by @SafaMote

@alexandrosM @NAChristakis @Stanford @jflier @COVID2019app Below, Dr. Marc Lipsitch @mlipsitch, Professor of Epidemiology @Harvard, reponds to Ioannidis's comments.

Nobody denies the helpfulness and importance of collecting more data.

But doing nothing would be equivalent to...

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statnews.com/2020/03/18/we-…

@alexandrosM @NAChristakis @Stanford @jflier @COVID2019app @mlipsitch @Harvard ...telling weather forecasters "we don't YET have enough evidence of a hurricane [that is going to land in a week], so let's not evacuate."

Scientific Prediction is indeed one of the important achievements of science.

Now is not a time to deny science and scientific method.
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@alexandrosM @NAChristakis @Stanford @jflier @COVID2019app @mlipsitch @Harvard Now is not a time to act divisive.

We have a common enemy, so we must unite in the war against #coronavirus, led by scientists, and brave, selfless physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers.

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@alexandrosM @NAChristakis @Stanford @jflier @COVID2019app @mlipsitch @Harvard P.S. The total count of innocent victims of #COVID19 in just #Italy 🇮🇹 has climbed from 1,800 two days ago ---mentioned in my tweet on Mar 17, to which you had responded--- to over 3,000 today, Mar 19.

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@alexandrosM @NAChristakis @Stanford @jflier @COVID2019app @mlipsitch @Harvard @threadreaderapp unroll

@alexandrosM @NAChristakis @Stanford @jflier @COVID2019app @mlipsitch @Harvard An update just came through: **3,405** total #COVID19 deaths in #Italy 🇮🇹 as of today, Mar 19, 2020. The count was only 1,800 two days ago.

This is devastating. Numbers are rising every hour. Yet some Twitter accounts continue to deny the evidence and spread misinformation.