Students in Hanoi wait to get their temperatures checked on May 4, 2020, as schools re-opened after a three-month closure to fight the Covid-19 epidemic.
Manan Vatsyayana/AFP
Vietnam is one of the poorest nations in Asia, yet it has had remarkably few Covid-19 cases. In part, the country’s limited resources led to a cautious, proactive approach.
Long before the Indian government responded to the threat of COVID-19 with a lockdown, residents of Shivaji Nagar, with the support of a local NGO, were protecting and helping one another.
Aircraft cabins have been germ hotspots since long before this pandemic. More ‘microbiology literacy’ is needed among the general public for this to improve.
A cemetery worker walks between graves at a designated graveyard for COVID-19 victims at Pondok Ranggon cemetery in Jakarta.
Risa Krisadhi/Pacific Press/Sipa USA
The crisis has made recovery more difficult for those with substance use disorders. The inability to get to support group meetings, stress and illness are just some of the factors.
NZ$4.3 billion will go some way to patch up long-standing cracks in New Zealand’s health system. But COVID-19 has shown NZ’s regional approach to health isn’t good enough against a nationwide threat.
The internal density and layout of buildings are key factors in COVID-19 transmission risk. This is not an argument against high-density cities, some of which have successfully contained the virus.
Many are speculating about the pandemic changing how we plan and use our cities. What they overlook is how many people live in unplanned settlements where it’s more likely to be business as usual.
Sports have been out of action during the coronavirus lockdown, but the recovery period is a chance to redefine sporting success beyond winning and profit margins.
Despite World Health Organisation warnings that heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of severe complications of COVID-19, alcohol was sold as an essential item during New Zealand’s lockdown.
From conflicts with specialised medical devices, through to unresolved problems with iPhone functionality, COVIDSafe is in need of updates. A major one may come within the next few weeks.
Public spaces must now meet our need to be ‘together but apart’.
Silvia Tavares
When urban spaces work well they are highly social spaces. How do we safely manage them and people’s fears about mingling when ‘being together but apart’ is the norm?
People, some wearing masks, enjoy a walk in a park in Rome as Italy, the first nation to impose a nationwide lockdown against the coronavirus, begins to reopen – slowly.
Franco Origlia/Getty Images
It’s possible to evaluate countries’ readiness to lift their lockdowns, based on how well they managed the first wave of the pandemic, and how ready they are for a digital economy.