First RCT on masks in the face of this pandemic
The first RCT study published on masks in the context of this pandemic found no statistically significant differences regarding the protection of their users. Historical background For decades research has…
TRL says health authorities have no power to impose confinement and questions tests reliability
The health authorities do not have ‘the power or the legitimacy to deprive any person of his liberty’, the Lisbon Court of Appeal held that the confinement imposed by the…
TRL diz que autoridades de saúde não têm poder para medidas de privação de “liberdade” e questiona fiabilidade dos testes
As autoridades de saúde não têm “poder ou legitimidade para privarem qualquer pessoa da sua liberdade”, defendeu o Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa que considerou o confinamento imposto pela autoridade…
Masks in the community: Are we following the science?
The usefulness of masks in the prevention of respiratory diseases is something very intuitive. If we want to prevent any agent from infecting us, putting something in front of our…
Collateral damages of a lockdown
After the so-called first wave, many countries gave assurances that they would not use lockdowns again as a strategy to combat Covid-19, because of the strong economic and social impact…
What is base rate?
The taxi problem (classic example of the base rate fallacy) There are two taxi companies in a city: one is GREEN, the other is BLUE. 85% of taxis are blue…
How Long Does Immunity Last After COVID-19?
There are currently four identified coronaviruses in circulation. Knowledge about the re-infection process with these endemic viruses may reveal characteristics common to all human coronaviruses. It is generally assumed that…
Is it true that we only use 10% of the brain?
Many people believe that we only use a small part of the brain. In an online survey conducted in the United States, the majority (65%) of the more than 2000…
68% of the excess deaths by natural causes were non-Covid
Sixty-eight per cent of excess mortality (MS) due to natural causes in Portugal is associated with non-Covid-19 deaths. According to an analysis made by the National School of Public Health…
Pyramid of scientific evidence: why the quality of evidence is important
One of the most important issues in the interpretation of different scientific studies is the degree of evidence that each represents. The pyramid of scientific evidence is an excellent representation…
What is a Covid case? What do the numbers tell us?
Is it correct to classify positive test cases as “new infections”? What do the numbers tell us? In the previous article on the Covid-19 cases we talked about the doubts…
What is a Covid case? The false positives and the non-infectious positives
Every day we are informed about the number of new infections by the “new coronavirus”, also known as “Covid-19 cases”. However, do the reported cases all correspond to infected people?…
