Those just mean the estimate is inaccurate. When dealing with something entirely unknown almost any estimate is better than nothing.
Sure it could end up being off by a factor 10 either way, but even then it's still informative.
Sure it could end up being off by a factor 10 either way, but even then it's still informative.
The infection rate is, in all likelihood, much higher than these early numbers suggest. People don’t go to the hospital for sniffles, and therefore, the bulk of infections don’t show up. Deaths almost always get counted.