THE K FACTOR: NEVER MIND THE R VALUE, HERE’S THE NUMBER WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND TO DEAL WITH COVID-19

Over the course of the pandemic, scientists have been gathering data about the coronavirus to inform mathematical models and predict the spread. Statisticians assign values to the parameters within which a disease is transmitted. Many of us have heard of the reproduction number, or the R number, of the coronavirus. It tells us, on average, how many people one infected person will pass the disease on to.

The R number changes depending on the circumstances. If people remain socially distant and wash their hands frequently, the figure tends to drop. Without these measures,