Panda Reports 
Excess Deaths Oddities
The SAMRC report attempts to show that the coronavirus pandemic has led to almost 11,000 fatalities, more than three times the official death count. Our view is that this claim is false and that simple and logical adjustments to the data for known reporting issues cause the excess fatality number to align much more closely with recorded COVID-19 deaths.
Exploring Inter-Country Variation
One of the most interesting features of the COVID-19 outbreak is the stark difference between mortality experience in different countries. No simple and plausible explanations that we are aware of have been advanced.
While our results explain roughly half of the inter-country variability, they appear to be far more robust than the current explanations in circulation. We are hopeful that other researchers will identify factors that can improve our model.
The Big Picture – why this PANDA got irritable
We realise that in recent weeks we have become the irritable and potentially dangerous version of the PANDA, and we’d like to give some background to how we arrived at this point. From late April we have been worried that the cost of lockdown, measured in terms of impact on human lives, would significantly outweigh any benefits.
Rethinking one thing
Do we want a world in which we solve extremely difficult problems with politburos, command councils and war rooms, or one in which we reclaim agency for individuals, families, local communities and nimble organisations? If we answer in favour of centralisation, then we can rethink everything all we like and remain firmly stuck in a ditch – a ditch of our own construct.
Understanding inter-regional differences in Covid-19 mortality rates.
In this note, we present a model of deaths due to COVID-19 disease and attempt to explain differences between geographic regions using a few critical factors that are shaping policy decisions and scientific debates.
More pushback on “nonsensical” govt Covid-19 data
Ian McGorian Chris Bateman - Biz News
The Epidemiologists Who Missed The Boat
In early February, a virus broke out on the Diamond Princess. Harrowing accounts began to emerge, but for those looking at the data, the cruise ship represented a pot of gold.
Quantifying Years of Lost Life
Currently, we employ a “years of lost life” approach to comparing benefits and harms. This avoids the false dichotomy of “lives versus the economy”. Viruses kill. But the economy sustains lives and poverty kills too.
Our latest estimate is that South Africa’s lockdown will cause a loss of life at least 30x greater than the loss of life it stands to prevent.
Actuaries warn Ramaphosa of a “humanitarian disaster to dwarf Covid-19” if restrictive lockdown is not lifted
The frequently voiced government mantra that lives are being prioritised and that the issue is “lives versus the economy” is described in the Panda report as a false dichotomy. The report notes: “Viruses kill. But the economy sustains lives, and poverty kills too.”
Letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa: Lockdown is a humanitarian disaster
Panda CoVid19 - its mortality and economic effects