It's pretty clear by now that the statistics on COVID-19 are a hot mess. One news report quoted Betsy McCaughey, New York's former lieutenant governor, characterizing nursing homes as "death pits." Is the underlying problem something we should have known, or already measured? Or is this another healthcare disparity that we have chosen to ignore, which COVID-19 subsequently revealed? Let's take a look.

Since Covid-19 infection carries with it a crushing immunocompromise, it is important to recognize that the most common global reason of immunodeficiency is malnutrition and that the leading causation of world morbidity/mortality is chronic malnutrition.

It's only one trial, and we don't even know if the report is correct. But a leaked draft report indicated that remdesivir was ineffective in its first controlled trial. Let's assume that this is true and we see the same from other trials. If so, this will not simply be another experimental drug failing. It will be deeply disturbing. Here's why.

Are the small levels of pesticides, herbicides and genetic modifications in our food -- whether human-made or natural -- harmful? Let's put the virus aside for a moment and see what we find.

When it comes to unwinding the lockdown, we are faced with the urge to be social once again. And since we are also faced with huge uncertainty, what does "an abundance of caution" actually mean?

Preliminary data, obtained from a randomized clinical trial of remdesivir in China, look bad. Maybe even very bad. But this doesn't mean that the drug won't be shown to be useful in other trials. Nonetheless, not good news.

As is most everything in life, being open-minded is hard work. It actually takes conscientious effort. Like being charitable or becoming a violin virtuoso, it requires practice. One does not become open-minded overnight. But you can always start on your journey today.

Where does the 2600 tons of oxygen we use daily in the hospitals come from? Not all creatures have a microbiome, what is up with that? Why are lies and misinformation so resilient? And two lessons from history, one about where we shelter, the other about "travel papers."

Should we open up the economy immediately or remain on lockdown indefinitely until a vaccine is made? Believe it or not, there are other options. It's too bad that society isn't smart enough to understand that.

Remdesivir, the most promising anti-coronavirus drug at this time is no fun to synthesize. But Gilead, the drug's maker, is synthesizing a whole bunch of it. Does this tell us anything about whether the drug works? Maybe.