When US governors declared a state of emergency is likely pivotal in mitigating how hard COVID-19 hits their states. And it turns out that one party’s governors made those decisions more quickly.
People have resorted to using scarves and bandanas as face masks to protect against spreading coronavirus. While cloth masks aren’t as effective as surgical masks, research suggests they can limit the spread of droplets.
Jens Schleuter/Getty Images
U.S. health officials flipped their advice and now recommend everyone wear cloth masks in public to reduce the spread of coronavirus to others. Some cities have fines for going without masks.
Bill Clinton displaying how not to social distance while campaigning in 1992.
Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Coroanvirus has ended politics as normal. What will campaigning look like without handshaking, high fives and the kissing of babies?
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all bars, restaurants, entertainment and recreation facilities to temporarily close to fight the spread of COVID-19.
Getty/Erika Schultz-Pool
Federal government officials are on television almost every day responding to the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s the nation’s governors who are taking aggressive action in the states.
You can’t threaten or humiliate a virus.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The ‘tough guy’ is a cultural archetype that political leaders have long adopted. But during crises, Americans tend to look for a different kind of hero.
A sample of cinchona bark.
Kim Walker & Harriet Gendall. RBG Kew.
Klaus W. Larres, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Germans are struggling like the rest of the world with the coronavirus. And while Germans have a strong safety net and medical system, one thing may fall victim to the virus: relations with the US.
Members of the New York Army National Guard are setting up a 1,000-bed hospital at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
The National Guard may be the least understood branch of the US military. A National Guard attorney and military law professor explains how it works.
Christian pastor Shawn Bolz has recently said the U.S. economy would surge despite the conronavirus. He has said: ‘Even now several vaccines are coming out as well as a natural dying out of the virus itself.’ There is no known vaccine for COVID-19. He is pictured here at an event in April 2016.
(Bolz Ministries)
Some neo-charismatic religious leaders have downplayed the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump, flanked by administration and public health officials, during a briefing on the coronavirus on March 25.
Getty/Mandel Ngan / AFP
Journalism’s ethics code says the press must ‘seek truth and report it,’ and also minimize harm. During a public health crisis, how should the press deal with President Trump’s inaccuracies and lies?
The government of Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti lost a non-confidence vote on March 25.
Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA
During the Global Financial Crisis, the world benefited from American leadership. That is missing – along with any logical replacement – in the current crisis.
Pence and Trump attend a coronavirus task force briefing.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
The federal government has declared a state of emergency over COVID-19. Two public health scholars explain what that means.
Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, taking part at a video conference in extraordinary virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit at the Chigi Palace in Rome.
EPA/A handout photo from the Chigi Palace Press Office
Already, we have seen a range of responses globally - from countries that apparently reacted too late, to those who acted relatively early.
A healthcare worker interviews people at a drive-through coronavirus screening in Yorba Linda, CA.
MediaNews Group / Orange County Register / Jeff Gritchen via Getty Images
Joe Biden has taken control of the Democratic nomination with a string of big primary wins. The ongoing coronavirus epidemic is in part responsible, but the role of religion should not be overlooked.
The US’s handling of the coronavirus has been widely criticised. Given all the presidential candidates are in their 70s, the virus could end up having a significant impact on the November election.
President Donald Trump with members of the president’s Coronavirus Task Force at the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Trump called coronavirus a hoax, and he dragged his feet in addressing it. But the US health care system was ill-equipped from the start to deal with such a crisis. The pandemic shows the flaws.
The U.S .Capitol on February 20, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
Getty/Alex Edelman/AFP
Congress wanted an aide to President Trump to testify; Trump ordered him not to. Congress went to court over it, and the court told both sides to leave the courts out of it and negotiate a solution.
During the Global Financial Crisis, the US and the G20 led the way to recovery. As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, there is a leadership vacuum, and we may all suffer for it.
Professor in U.S. Politics and U.S. Foreign Relations at the United States Studies Centre and in the Discipline of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney