re: #236 yoshicastmaster

Sry, but I’m still confused on this:

“The period of 42 days, with active case-finding in place, is twice the maximum incubation period for Ebola virus disease…”

“Recent studies conducted in West Africa have demonstrated that 95% of confirmed cases have an incubation period in the range of 1 to 21 days; 98% have an incubation period that falls within the 1 to 42 day interval.”

who.int

It’s statistics-speak. Think of the normal distribution curve (aka the “bell curve”). The quote means that within the sample, 95% of the people had a incubation period of 1-21 days. Another 3% fell outside the 21-day period, so in total 98% fell within the 1-42 day window.
Normal distribution curve

95% corresponds to two standard deviations (+/- 2σ) of the mean (μ). The other 3%-5% lies in the “tails” of the curve.

It’s not a self-contradiction, as someone above complained. It’s stats-speak that any scientist would understand.