When fighting a pandemic, it is important to have good data. How many people are infected? How deadly is the virus? Who is most vulnerable and what communities are hit hardest? These are critically important questions, but a severe shortage of coronavirus tests has hampered efforts to get accurate answers.

By randomly testing 3,600 people, a team of researchers from IUPUI was able to use a small number of tests to get the first statistically representative sample of an entire state. The team estimates that as of April 29, 2.8% of Indiana residents had been infected, a number 11 times higher than confirmed cases, and the fatality rate for COVID-19 is six times higher than the flu.

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Daniel Merino

Junior Editor: Science, Health, Environment

Random testing conducted in Indiana gives public health officials some of the most representative and accurate data to date. AP Photo/Darron Cummings

Random testing in Indiana shows COVID-19 is 6 times deadlier than flu, and 2.8% of the state has been infected

Nir Menachemi, IUPUI

A team of researchers from Indiana University performed random testing for SARS-CoV-2 across the state. The results offer some of the most accurate data to date about important aspects of the virus.

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    Cutler J Cleveland, Boston University; Alicia Zhang, Boston University; Jacqueline Ashmore, Boston University; Taylor Dudley, Boston University

    Working from home has become the new norm for many during the pandemic. But it's an opportunity that divides along racial and economic lines – and isn't as beneficial to the environment as many believe.

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