K: The Overlooked Variable That’s Driving the Pandemic (The Atlantic) is a fascinating approach to addressing a key spreader of the pandemic: super-spreading events.

Here are 6 key takeaways from Zeynep Tufekci’s article:

1. The overlooked variable is K, and it measures whether a virus spreads steadily or in bursts.
2. We should be targeting clusters (a.k.a. super-spreading events) to reduce transmission numbers.
3. Use backward tracing to trace 2-3X more cases than traditional forward tracing.
4. Use fast, cheap, low-sensitivity tests to identify clusters.
5. Sweden didn’t lockdown but instead targeted super-spreading.
6. Japan committed to cluster-busting.

See also

1. The plan that could give us our lives back

External links

1. K number: what is the coronavirus metric that could be crucial as lockdown eases? (The Guardian)