'I couldn't imagine a better guidebook for making sense of a tragic and momentous time in our
lives. Covid by Numbers is comprehensive yet concise impeccably clear and always humane' Tim
HarfordHow many people have died because of COVID-19? Which countries have been hit hardest by
the virus? What are the benefits and harms of different vaccines? How does COVID-19 compare to
the Spanish flu? How have the lockdown measures affected the economy mental health and
crime?This year we have been bombarded by statistics - seven day rolling averages rates of
infection excess deaths. Never have numbers been more central to our national conversation
and never has it been more important that we think about them clearly. In the media and in
their Observer column Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter and RSS Statistical Ambassador Anthony
Masters have interpreted these statistics offering a vital public service by giving us the
tools we need to make sense of the virus for ourselves and holding the government to account.
In Covid by Numbers they crunch the data on a year like no other exposing the leading
misconceptions about the virus and the vaccine and answering our essential questions. This
timely concise and approachable book offers a rare depth of insight into one of the greatest
upheavals in history and a trustworthy guide to these most uncertain of times.
