Viktor Nowalsk

now with broad headings!

( cut for length )

DRC Health Ministry on Ebola as of 7 December; also see archives.

New cases still don't appear to be slowing down, w/ a cumulative total of 489 cases (441 confirmed) and 280 deaths. Case-fatality rate isn't horrible compared to past outbreaks, but the continued increase in cases is concerning; this is the worst outbreak that DRC's ever had, and continentwide the only outbreak with more cases is the 2014 West African epidemic. There are concerns about spread to Uganda. DRC has had sporadic Ebola outbreaks for decades and is generally better able to deal with the virus than other countries, but there's currently a confluence of political/social factors (esp. ongoing Kivu conflict) that make control unusually difficult.

also, wow, DRC's immunized a lot more people against Ebola than I'd've thought – as of yesterday, 42,673 since August 2018 (!)

just came across this strongly critical analysis of Barley and Daniel (1973) ("From Jerusalem to Jericho": a Study of Situational and Dispositional Variables in Helping).

now I'm a little bit annoyed at people who hold that study up as an really great investigation of ethical decision-making! and also at myself, because this is a fascinating paper, a very satisfying psych study that confirms a few things I'd prefer to believe, and why did I assume the study design was good, has anyone checked whether it replicates