ORLANDO, Fla – Predicting COVID-19 infection rates and deaths is a task a team of five UCF researchers has been tackling since the start of the pandemic. “One of the biggest responsibilities we have is we’ve been predicting forecasts since this time last year,” Timothy Sumner, one of the researchers on the team said. “We’ve been giving them to the CDC to utilize and base their forecasts off of which of course every policymaker and every official goes to the CDC as the resource.” [TRENDING: Teen diagnosed with disorder after vaccine | Video: Gators ‘getting to know each other’ | Disney relaxes mask policy] They are among 30 other teams nationwide who are collaborating with the Center for Control Disease and Prevention to examine the effects