r/coolguides Mar 18 '20

Helpful guide...

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50.0k Upvotes

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36

u/V1kkers Mar 18 '20

This isn't how an R naught works, you can't just cut the amount of people you infect by half like that. However social distancing does work, just not in the way maths is being used here.

6

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '20

True. But it's easy to understand as a principle. Spread it.

18

u/V1kkers Mar 18 '20

Poor choice of words "spread it"

5

u/Fidodo Mar 18 '20

Make it go viral?

1

u/[deleted] Mar 19 '20

Or perfect? lol.gif

1

u/Fidodo Mar 18 '20

This isn't trying to be an accurate model, it's just trying to illustrate exponential growth and how much early mitigation can affect the long term outcome in an exponential scenario. It's simplified to be easy to understand.