New APPS

Geolocation data is getting increasing attention as a way of tracking social distancing in particular.  Google has just released a bunch of its geolocation data, which tracks changes in trips to retail, parks and other places.

In the meantime, a new paper in Science says that a good contact-tracing App, if sufficiently robust and adequately deployed, could avoid the need for lock-downs. 

Of related interest, Zeynep Tufekci has a smart piece in The Atlantic, pointing out that disease modeling isn't useful so much for producing truth or knowledge, but as a guide for how to avoid worst outcomes.  This seems absolutely right to me, and is in line the way health policy folks are pursuing what I've called a maximin strategy.