If Google Trends is any guide, many Australians are wondering what role phones and mail or package deliveries may play in the risk of coronavirus transmission.
Hospitals will need more space, staff and stuff as more people test positive to coronavirus. But hard decisions may have to be made if the health system gets overwhelmed with cases.
New Zealanders are preparing to stay at home for four weeks to stop the spread of COVID-19. Under existing laws, people who flout lockdown rules could face fines or six months in jail.
Overjoyed. That’s not a word epidemiologists normally use, but that’s how I felt after hearing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement of New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown from Wednesday night.
Recently, police forces have come under criticism for their engagement of facial recognition technologies. But pandemic response plans may increasingly incorporate surveillance.
A universal basic income could provide financially precarious people with the money they need. And it would keep money flowing through the financial system.
As long as teachers are creative and resourceful, kids will keep learning. What’s less clear is how schools will make up for the lost time if they remain closed for several months or longer.
Personal ethical decision-making is as crucial during the pandemic as the ever-changing laws and policies. With ambiguous rules, however, even the most conscientious citizens are struggling.
Canada is investing millions to develop COVID-19 treatments, but there are no safeguards to ensure that those vaccines and medications will be affordable and accessible to the people who need them.
Why have conspiracy theories so easily circulated during the COVID-19 pandemic? What do these theories tell us about societies and what challenges do they present?
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne