The New York Times has done an analysis on what it says is a misleading statistic released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the ramifications of the distribution of such information.
At issue is the CDC’s announcement last month that “less than 10%” of COVID-19 transmission was occurring outdoors, a percentage that quickly caught on.
The Times equated it to saying that sharks attack fewer than 20,000 swimmers worldwide annually, when the actual number is about 150, calling it “both true and deceiving.”
Dr. Muge Cevik, a virologist at the University of St. Andrews said the CDC’s benchmark “seems to be a huge exaggeration,” explaining that the share of transmission that has occurred outdoors appears to be below 1%, with other experts saying it might even be below 0.1%.
