The U.S. as a whole is facing a huge surge in coronavirus cases, but the differences between states like New York and Florida are striking.
Kena Betancur/1207979953 via Getty Images
The recent spike in new coronavirus cases in the US is not due to a second wave, but simply the virus moving into new populations or surging in places that opened up too soon.
At the Navajo Nation town of Fort Defiance, Arizona, staff pack food boxes. The Navajo Nation now has the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rate in the U.S.
Getty Images / Mark Ralston
The Victorian spike serves as a reminder that we are still very much in a pandemic. We need to come to terms with the fact we will need follow the basics of infection control for some time.
Over the first year of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria, about 400 people applied to access the laws to end their lives. There are lingering issues, but the system is workable.
A survey conducted in April revealed more than half the participants flouted social distancing rules to go shopping for non-essential items, and visit friends or family.
Centrelink queues shocked Australians but long before COVID-19 Western Sydney had job-poor neighbourhoods with very high unemployment rates.
Loren Elliott/AAP
Western Sydney’s growth-driven boom had ended before COVID-19 hit. Some neighbourhood unemployment rates were 2-3 times the metropolitan average, with female workforce participation as low as 43%.
Teachers have never been more appreciated than during COVID-19. But neither expressions of support, nor cheaper degrees will overcome the four big structural challenges facing the profession.
Claiming for working for home is fraught. It’s safest to claim the running expenses the tax office allows. ‘Occupancy expenses’ are harder to justify and could cost you your capital gains tax discount.
A law to fast-track development consents is being fast-tracked itself. Before it’s too late, politicians should insist on greater protection against long-term environmental damage.
On June 26, Texas’ governor ordered bars to close as COVID-19 case numbers spiked, particularly among younger adults. This Houston bar, photographed in late May, voluntarily shut down shortly before the order after two staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.
Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images
Virtual health-care services have been on the decision agenda for years, but lack of financial investment and political will has hindered progress. The pandemic has provided the impetus for action.
In the short term, South Africa has enough beds.
Getty Images
South Africa’s public health system has been allocated R21.5 billion more for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic but there’s no strategy to guide how it should be used.
Human encroachment on the environment is increasing the threat of diseases like COVID-19, but spending more time in nature could also be part of the solution to this pandemic.
Female entrepreneurs in Canada have been heavily impacted by the pandemic.
(Shutterstock)
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand