Yes, I agree that some symptoms are likely highly correlated. I didn’t intend to rule out that possibility with that sentence—I was just trying to say how I did my math (although I’m not sure how clear I was!). The correct conclusion is in the following sentence:
So having COVID on average gives you ~0.2 persistent symptoms vs not having COVID, with presumably some people having more than one symptom.
Possibly it would be better to add the caveat “0.2 persistent symptoms of those symptoms investigated”.
Yes, I agree that some symptoms are likely highly correlated. I didn’t intend to rule out that possibility with that sentence—I was just trying to say how I did my math (although I’m not sure how clear I was!). The correct conclusion is in the following sentence:
Possibly it would be better to add the caveat “0.2 persistent symptoms of those symptoms investigated”.