A lot of transmission has been happening in workplaces. Previous restrictions have seen cases plateau at several hundred per day, but these latest measures are designed to drive numbers down.
New data from the ABS shows how people adjusted their consumption patterns and behaviours during the early COVID-19 restrictions — and how some lifestyle changes have remained since then.
A mural by Amanda Newman in Northcote, Melbourne, depicts Ai Fen, a Wuhan Central Hospital doctor who was reprimanded for raising the alarm about COVID-19 in December 2019.
Photo: Carl Grodach
The inner suburbs are home to large numbers of workers in jobs vulnerable to the pandemic. If they’re forced to seek cheaper housing in outer suburbs, the urban divide will widen.
A state of disaster confers more power on the minister for police and emergency services to ensure compliance with the laws put in place to defeat the pandemic. It plays a powerful symbolic role, too.
Universities around the world are re-examining how they teach, do research and serve their students.
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has declared a state of disaster and an 8pm-5am curfew for Melbourne for the next six weeks. Meanwhile, the rest of the state moves to stage 3 restrictions.
Making schools safe will take more than wiping down surfaces.
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Concerns over how to make schools safe amid the coronavirus remain. But for many low-income students of color, old buildings in need of repair already presented a heath risk.
How we perceive personal risk, and how well we comply with public health measures, can change depending on whether we are around people we know or strangers.
Three young women attracted backlash this week after failing to quarantine and bringing COVID-19 into Queensland. But public shaming could discourage people from following public health advice.
Don’t think you’re alone when working from home - the typical office desk has more than 10 million bacteria. Here’s how to stop your WFH setup leaving you needing sick leave.
Certain crimes, such as robberies and sexual offences, have declined dramatically during the pandemic, while others, such as online fraud, domestic violence and homicides, have not.
By publishing photos and details of two teenagers who allegedly illegally went into Queensland from Victoria, the media have stripped them of due process and encouraged vigilantism.
We miss too much when we treat all seniors as helpless.
(Unsplash/@unitednations/Lélie Lesage)
COVID-19 public health messages often classify ‘elderly neighbours’ as in need of aid, and overlook the substantial contributions, achievements and resources of older people.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne