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Harvard should be ashamed. Mathematical models are my profession and can be extremely useful, however in order to make them useful, the inputs are based on sound estimates that

should be measurable with some precision. Instead, Harvard (Harvard for Godsakes!) uses guesses in their model. As the brilliant Michael Crichton said, guesses are merely expressions of prejudice: https://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/Crichton2003.pdf

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Exactly!

It's a shame that two years into the pandemic we're still dealing with model like this. The least Harvard could do is backtest their model on data from states that have been were partially mask optional like Florida, Tennessee, etc. Of course doing that wouldn't reveal just how poor their assumptions were...

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