Most Positive Coronavirus Tests Are True Positives
Why it’s nonsense to say that 90% of COVID-19 tests are false positives
In all of the times that we thought about a pandemic, in some hazy future that would probably never happen, the one thing that we mostly never foresaw was the truly epic amount of nonsense that would be produced. It seems like every second minute that a new myth about COVID-19 springs up that needs to be debunked, whether it’s the idea that drinking hot water can kill the virus (remember that from way back in April?) to the newer absurdity spreading around that most coronavirus deaths were actually caused by buses (spoiler: they weren’t).
And so, when the newest misconception sprang up, instead of feeling elated that my purpose as a science communicator and blogger was being fulfilled, I instead felt the bone-crushing weariness that comes from total nonsense going very every single day of the year. And because this nonsense is about a pandemic disease, and policy makers do sometimes base their decisions on trash analyses published online, I felt like it’s important to address this inaccuracy as soon as possible.
